Infectious disease expert urges Texans to still wear a mask
HOUSTON - As statewide COVID-19 restrictions end in Texas, it's time for people to make their own decisions about how to move forward.
An infectious disease expert at Memorial Hermann urges you to continue to wear a mask.
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Texans haven't had the opportunity to decide whether or not to wear a mask in public for months, and now that the mask mandate is lifted, many doctors are concerned about the outcome.
"It is too soon to stop wearing masks and that is very clear. This is consistent across all public health authorities, the Center for Disease Control, and our state health departments. We need people to continue to wear masks, because we are not finished with this (pandemic). I don't care what the government wishes were, the reality is, we still have a lot of cases. We still have people coming into the hospital with COVID. We still have people dying every day. The number of cases has begun to go down, but they have plateaued. We have multiple new variants in the area, some of which are much more contagious than the COVID we have been dealing with. And unfortunately, Texas lags behind the rest of the country in getting people vaccinated. We are behind the curve on this," states Dr. Linda Yancey, an infectious disease specialist with Memorial Hermann.
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Dr. Yancey encourages anyone who is in a high-risk category for COVID-19, to be even more cautious now.
"So, what we have learned is that masks are somewhat effective at preventing you from getting sick, they're very effective at preventing the people around you from getting sick. So to have vulnerable people who've not been vaccinated not wearing masks, means we are going to see an uptick in the number of COVID cases! It is going to be more dangerous to go shopping, and it's going to be more dangerous to go into crowded indoor settings like restaurants. I would advise everybody: stay home as much as you can! All of the grocery stores have curbside delivery, all of the restaurants have delivery these days. Now is not the time to risk your health. If for whatever reason you have to go in person, definitely double mask. Do as much as you can to protect yourself. Avoid the people who are not wearing masks, they are actively endangering you and your family. This is not opinion, this has been, what we have learned through an excruciating year of pandemic. We did not know this at this time last year. If you talked with me in the Spring of 2020, we were still unsure on masks, but the science behind it at this point of the pandemic, is rock solid," explains Dr. Yancey.
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As we all adjust to this new stage of the pandemic, the big question is, when will we be able to start venturing out more stress-free?
"It's estimated as of today that 70% will be vaccinated (herd immunity) by the 19th of July," says Dr. Yancey. She goes on to say, the latest numbers also show 90% will be vaccinated by mid-September, and she says that's when researchers believe things will begin to feel safe again for most people.
Just a reminder that many businesses and schools have chosen to continue requiring masks, so you'll need to go with their rules, versus the state's decision.