Sunday, July 19, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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When I was a kid, after I sneezed or coughed, my mother would say “cover your mouth.”
Of course, moms are never wrong about anything. The recent surge in COVID-19 cases, coupled with a national debate over whether people should wear a mask, makes my mother’s advice even more prescient.
COVID-19 cases in Southern Nevada have increased at an alarming rate, as the state reported its largest single-day increases in cases several days in a row. Certainly, as we test more, we will identify more cases, but more concerning is the increased percentage of positive cases in persons tested and the increase in hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions. All of this foretells a situation where the virus is becoming much more prevalent in our population. Florida, Arizona, Texas and other states are starting to see their health care systems overwhelmed with too many sick patients to safely care for, a result of person-to-person spread. This is exactly what we hoped to prevent by flattening the curve.
What can we do? We can take my mother’s advice and cover our mouths with masks or other face coverings. There was some confusion early in the epidemic, as some experts did not recommend the routine wearing of masks. We have to understand that this is a new virus and we are learning more about it every day. It now appears that the virus is airborne, meaning it can be transmitted through the air in very small aerosolized particles.
In addition to sneezing or coughing, the simple acts of talking or singing can lead to virus spread through the production of these very small aerosol particles expelled through our nose and mouth. As they linger in the air, these particles can affect anyone who comes in contact with them.
That is why masks are important.
Wearing a mask may decrease the wearer’s risk of contracting COVID-19, but more importantly, it can decrease the likelihood that an infected patient can spread the disease to others, by blocking some of the aerosolized particles from entering the airspace when someone is talking. Although there have been concerns that wearing a mask can impair breathing, because masks are by nature leaky, this concern is not a real issue.
Finally, wearing a mask should be seen as a common courtesy to others who are near you. This is like returning a shopping cart in the supermarket after you use it. You are not really helping yourself, but you are helping others.
In addition to wearing a mask, to control the spread of COVID-19, we need to continue to test for the virus and need to expand our ability to test for antibodies to the virus. Standard viral testing is useful to see if someone is infected or not; antibody testing tells us if someone has already been infected.
We don’t yet know how long antibodies provide protection from reinfection, but it is likely months to years. For this reason, antibody testing can allow people with antibodies to become more engaged with the community as they are presumed to be not infectious. We also need to perform careful contact tracing to identify people exposed to the virus, so they can isolate and not infect others. These public health measures can prevent overwhelming the health care system and our intensive care units, and can save lives.
With the rise in COVID-19 cases, let’s take our mothers’ advice and cover our mouths with masks or other face coverings. Let’s wash our hands, let’s practice social distancing, let’s use our testing strategies to identify active cases and isolate those infected.
After I was told to cover my mouth, my mother would also say “God bless you.” Today I say “God bless” the responsible citizens who wear masks to protect their friends, family and the residents of Southern Nevada.
We are all in this together.
Marc Kahn is dean of the UNLV School of Medicine.
