Irene Hartmann
09/11/2021 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 9/11/2021 6:01 AM
There was a time when if one was sent without a mask on the street, one exposed (in addition to Covid) to being socially considered, or an
ego-runner-cheto
, or a provocateur, an anti-system individualist, an uninformed person.
Not anymore.
When the temperature reaches 20 degrees, with the curve of cases falling 15 weeks ago, rebellion emerges and with the R's marked the question is thrown up:
why should we continue to wear the chinstrap on the street
.
Whoever signs these lines is a cautious and informed person.
Always double chinstrap.
Staircase and no elevator.
On foot or by bike.
Bondi - if possible - no.
The tug of war is daily with some who
underestimate the contagion
, throwing ridiculous inductive sketches like “
why would he have such bad luck?”
A sterile battle that has borne the most rotten bond fruits.
To
us
, the existence of the possibility of contagion seems to us a good reason to try to avoid it.
There is no effort in what adds peace of mind.
Today we are joined by satiety.
And, on warm days, the inevitable ferment under the chinstrap.
Can't we stop using it at least on the sidewalk?
A short distance away, even outdoors, experts recommend abiding by the use of a chinstrap.
Photo: Fernando de la Orden
Clarín
consulted the City and the province of Buenos Aires if we are close to ceasing to be mandatory.
The answer, unanimous and quick, was an emphatic "no."
"
Not for now
."
Countries
In Finland, wearing a chinstrap on the street was the whole pandemic a “
recommendation
”.
Few use it.
Everyone wears it to go into business.
In France, using it on the street is not mandatory since June.
In Italy and Belgium, the same.
In Spain, the same, but the wave of Delta emphasized the use of the mask even outdoors.
In Brazil it is compulsory as in Argentina, but, explained
Fernando Spilki
, a researcher at Feevale University, who coordinates the university network for Corona-ômica / BR-MCTI genomic surveillance, it is not used much because "street use is not controlled Yes, in places like fairs and other agglomerations ".
In the Buenos Aires bike paths, the use of chinstrap is still quite frequent.
Photo: Lucia Merle
Seems hard to find
a
perfect rule
that establishes the optional use of the chinstrap in the street, urging individual responsibility and common sense: wear it in high-traffic areas.
And of course, indoors, always.
In the middle, would it hang us by the ear?
From the wrist?
By the neck?
What if it fell?
What if we don't forget them?
Balance
Experts consulted for this note agreed that the
more complex a rule is, the less it will be fulfilled
.
José Luis Jiménez
, eminence in the field of Covid air transmission, chemist, researcher at the University of Colorado (United States) and who leads the Aireamos group, distinguished “a couple of considerations”.
“From the technical point of view, if everyone listened, things would be different.
That is, contagion occurs when you chat at a very short distance, even if it is an open space, or when you share a closed space.
In those cases the chinstrap is necessary ”, he emphasized.
Then he said that "it is different if you are a couple of meters from the person, in which case the probability, outdoors, is very low. However,
people do not understand that on a terrace, chatting closely, it is necessary to use the chinstrap
”.
According to
Wanda Cornistein
, head of Infectology at the Austral Hospital, “we must be cautious” and consider that “in general, when it is indicated to use it in some places, it tends to stop being used in all of them.
If nobody controls, in general it is not fulfilled and
the more diverse the indication, the more difficult to comply with
”.
In Villa Fiorito, a woman walks down the street with her mask or mask.
/ EFE
For the doctor, a reasonable goal would be "to wait to have most of the population with a
high
vaccination
rate
."
Andrea Pineda Rojas
, an expert in air pollution, a researcher at the Sea and Atmosphere Research Center (CIMA-UBA-Conicet), recalled that “the issue is that there are two forms of contagion, close and distant.
The risk depends on the exposure time
. "
In this sense, "although outside the probability of contagion is lower, there are conditions that could be risky and this
is very little studied
. Unlike what happens with large droplets, for aerosols there is no such clear safety distance" .
Delta flying over
Pineda Rojas believes that, "given that there is beginning to be community transmission of the Delta variant - much more contagious than the previous ones - this
would not be the time to relax the use of the chinstrap outdoors
".
Spilki, from Brazil, agreed on caution: “It is a moment of transition between the predominance of Gamma to Delta.
Even with the
feeling of a partial blockage
due to vaccination and the recent circulation of Gamma, we do not know how long this situation will last.
Vaccination did not go far enough.
It is necessary to maintain the precautions ”.
Cristina Freuler
, head of Infectious Diseases at the German Hospital, expressed her opinion in a different direction: "
There is no problem
, since
distancing from the public highway is almost a fact
".
“We are not even standing still waiting at a traffic light for the 15 minutes that the definition of close contact establishes.
Obviously, if someone walks by and coughs us directly in the face, the 15 minutes is anecdotal.
It would be
logical to use the chinstrap in shops and on public transport
”, he evaluated.
With the decrease in Covid cases, the use of "welder" type masks combined with a chinstrap seems less frequent.
Photo: Germán García Adrasti
Looking for a middle ground, Cornistein ordered the concepts: "The idea is to comply with the
tripod: social distance, use of masks and good ventilation
. When you reinforce one, the others could relax. When you do not fulfill one, the rest must be reinforced."
Perhaps, Jiménez pointed out, “people are tired and it is risky to give complex instructions.
It all ends up in '
ok, outdoors is not used.
That's it.
'"
"The use of the chinstrap outdoors is a
health policy decision
that must be made based on
how well informed people are
", added the expert, and concluded: "The dynamics of the waves are not well understood and in many places epidemiologists they are surprised by the different supercontagating events that are detected.
For now, in Argentina Delta did not appear, but who knows
".
$
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