Healthcare

Fauci says mask-wearing may become ‘seasonal’

Published

9 months ago

May 9, 2021

Staff Writer

Dr. Anthony Fauci floated the idea Sunday of making mask-wearing a “seasonal” thing, even after the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us.

The infectious disease expert – who has floated multiple and contested ideas in the past – said COVID precautions have had an impact on flu numbers.

“We’ve had practically a non-existent flu season this year merely because people were doing the kinds of public health things that were directed predominantly against COVID-19,” Fauci said, as reported by the Daily Caller.

“It is conceivable that as we go on, a year or two or more from now, that during certain seasonal periods when you have respiratory-borne viruses like the flu, people might actually elect to wear masks," Fauci said of mask wearing.

https://t.co/JO8flO3QkW
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) May 9, 2021

Because of the benefits on flu numbers, mask-wearing may become a go-to in the future.

“So it is conceivable that as we go on, a year or two or more from now, that during certain seasonal periods when you have respiratory-borne viruses like the flu, people might actually elect to wear masks to diminish the likelihood that you’ll spread these respiratory-borne diseases,” he said.

Dr. Fauci tells Wolf Blitzer that we are at the "bottom of the 6th inning" in the fight against coronavirus pic.twitter.com/rWkyHZZqkH
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 4, 2021

Fauci further stressed that more Americans need to get the COVID vaccine.

“I mean, if we get, which we will, to the goals that the president has established, namely, if we get 70% of the people vaccinated by the Fourth of July, namely one single dose and even more thereafter, you may see blips, but if we handle them well, it is unlikely that you’ll see the kind of surge that we saw in the late fall and the early winter,” he said.

Read the full story here.

COVID-19

California Tells COVID-Positive Medical Staff to ‘Return to Work Immediately, Without Isolation or Testing’

Published

1 week ago

January 12, 2022

Sara Carter Staff

The Los Angeles Times came out with a piece Wednesday titled, “With hospitals reeling, California tells COVID-positive medical workers to stay on the job.” With more and more patients arriving to the emergency room every day, forced to wait entire days to be seen, there is no one to answer the phones and no one to take out the trash.

Due to the Omicron-fueled surge, healthcare workers are calling out sick in droves, and has “left the medical infrastructure on edge.” As a result, California, and other state’s officials are examining a “Sweeping policy change that allows asymptomatic healthcare workers who have tested positive for the coronavirus to return to work immediately, without isolation or testing.”

Currently, the policy will remain in place through February 1^st to avoid staffing shortages. The California Department of Public Health said because hospitals are reaching capacity, providing essential care is extremely compromised.

“Given those conditions, the department is providing temporary flexibility to help hospitals and emergency services providers respond to an unprecedented surge and staffing shortages” said the agency.

On Tuesday, nurses and representatives with the SEIU 721 union spoke out against the measure outside the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting in downtown to L.A. The California Nurses Association also said it planning a “day of action” for Thursday to condemn the state’s decision.

“It is absolutely infuriating that Democrats turned our nation upside down, harmed our children and may have even allowed the Democrats to steal an election creating these mandates, only to be forced to throw it all out the window on a whim because they did not work” says Sara Carter

“When President Trump was questioning these things, when I would question these things, when any sane person would question these things, the Democrats tried to make everyone look like they wanted to kill their grandmother and that we were conspiracy theorists” adds Carter.

“Is the situation ideal? No,” said Dr. Robert-Kim Farley, an epidemiologist and infectious-diseases expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. “Is it the lesser of the two evils of having no one to care for patients, versus having staff caring for them that may have COVID? Yes, it’s the lesser of two evils.”

The L.A. Times adds, “Kim-Farley said the policy is a recognition of the significant strain hospitals are experiencing amid an increased number of patients and decreased number of staff. The chances of transmission from an asymptomatic worker are minimal, he said, particularly since he or she would be practicing precautions, including wearing high-grade medical masks.”