Doctor: “Better free masks than so many free tests!”

article img Volunteers and NGOs sometimes distribute masks to people in need (Photo: Inquam Photos)

The Ministry of Health announced that it is facilitating the testing process in the Capital and is setting up 28 centers within the hospitals, where people suspected of COVID can go for free tests. It is a good measure, given that the ambulance service can barely cope with home testing requests, and the waiting time has been increased to 72 hours.

Although testing is important, we must not forget that it is also very expensive. We’d better work on prevention, says Dr. Cristian Apetrei, a Romanian professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. Specifically, let’s all wear the right face mask.

Most good and cheapest prevention measure: free masks!

In a post on Facebook, the specialist talks about the importance of the mask and how much it would help that the state, instead of allocating colossal sums for testing, would better invest in masks. “Instead of implementing draconian principles that no one respects, it would be much more effective to explain science clearly and simply. And the Ministry of Health, instead of making fireworks with unnecessary free tests, borne with a weak generosity from the budget, would be better off taking measures to provide free masks, especially for those at risk. It would be much simpler and cheaper for the state budget to distribute masks in schools, at church or in the hospital “, the doctor thinks.

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Prof. Dr. Cristian Apetrei

Prevention is cheaper and healthier even for the population. Wearing a mask reduces the risk of getting sick. It is extremely important because going through COVID means a long list of inconveniences, from wasted time in isolation, physical discomfort, to the danger of severe forms, hospitalization, sequelae after illness.

How contagion and Omicron

“What governs the transmission of viruses? Contagiousness. How do we measure contagion? In epidemiology, we use the reproduction rate, R0. What is R0? Exactly the number of people in a fully susceptible population that can be infected by a sick individual. What are coronavirus reproduction rates? • SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan: R0=2.8-4; • SARS-CoV-2 Delta: R0=5-8; • Omicron: R0=12-15. This means that in a completely naive population, a citizen infected with the Wuhan virus could have infected 2.8-4 people; one infected with Delta 5-8 people, and one with Omicron 12-15 people. Pretty simple, isn’t it? And quite frightening as well “, wrote Cristian Apetrei. He says it is a substantial and fundamental error to believe that the mask must protect 100% in order to stop the transmission of a respiratory virus. But we are much more likely to become infected if we do not wear a mask or keep it under our nose.

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