CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Health officials are now saying it may be another year of wearing masks in public.
3News' Brian Burns spoke with Dr. Vijay about why people should be wearing them and why it’s important to keep wearing them during the pandemic.
“Dr. Vijay, tell us a little bit about the new determination that doctors are saying we should wear our mask for at least another 12 months,” asked Brian Burns.
“You know, mask usage quite interestingly has been around for quite a while, and a classic example is surgeons wearing masks in the operating room. So we know it helps and now we have a determination by multiple organizations, including international organizations that feel because of the continuing threat of this COVID-19 pandemic causing significant issues to our more vulnerable population, that it would be best we continue wearing the mask for about a year. Which is maybe about how long it’ll take till we get a good vaccine and a sufficient number of the population vaccinated, or until enough people generate an immunity that it won’t cost as much of a problem.
“Now we’ve gotten to the point where homemade masks are recommended or face coverings. So it’s easy if you generate three or four masks for each member of the family and then wash them after each use. You should be in decent shape, right?”
“That’s exactly right and it works well, and now it’s a fashion accessory. At this time with all lightness aside, I think the masks have been shown to help. Multiple studies of our own, including TDC that recommend it because they are recommending it based on scientific data, and with a scientific basis. So when you wear a mask, not only are we helping ourselves, but we are helping our loved ones, the community, but most importantly, those who are at most at risk. The elderly, the immunologically compromised,” said Dr. Vijay.
Dr. Vijay Bindingnavele joins 3News every Sunday morning, so be sure to catch next's weeks discussion.
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