COVID-19: Amid rise in cases in several states, should we wear masks now? Expert weighs in

Amid a surge in COVID cases and detection of new sub-variants NB.1.8.1 and LF.7, concerns have sprung up on mask usage--whether it should be worn or not. The Ministry Of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), there are 1,010 active cases in the country, with most cases reported from Maharashtra and Kerala.

In a conversation with LiveMint.com, Gurugram-based Senior ENT Surgeon Dr Sarika Verma advises “to wear an N-95 mask covering nose and mouth completely”.

Avoid going out ‘until you are symptom-free’

“Every time COVID cases rise,one starts wondering how to keep oneself safe. The main thing about limiting Covid spread is for anyone with sore throat, fever, cough, cold to stay at home- rest and isolate to stop community spread. Do not go to school, office, market places. Do not use public transport for at least 4 to 7 days until you are symptom free," Dr Verma says.

She adds, “For high risk patients or high risk professions like hospitals and clinics, it is advisable to wear an N-95 mask covering your nose and mouth completely to keep yourself safe.”

“Enforcing mask usage mindlessly that we have seen in the previous Covid waves is useless and no way to save anyone from infection. Especially when masks are hanging on the ears/ chins/ under the nose/ or enforced when a person is driving alone in their vehicles are just laugh and meme worthy,” Dr Verma further shares.

CEO of Dr. Dangs Lab, Arjun Dang, stated on Tuesday that the recent increase in COVID-19 cases is due to sub-lineages of the Omicron variant, mentioning that new variants found in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, classified as “Variants Under Monitoring”, include types LF7 and NV181.

‘An increase in the number of sample requests’

"We must understand that the current spreading variants are again a sublineage of the Omicron virus. Additionally, in states like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, we have certain other sub-variants that have been named Variants Under Monitoring, and these are basically of two types, LF7 and NV181. Currently, the cases that we are seeing are more transmissible. They can infect people easily, but again, from the severity perspective, till now, we have not seen any severe cases," ANI quoted Dang as saying.

"There has been an increase in the number of sample requests that we are receiving. But this time, we are better prepared, more informed, and we have better surveillance tools. With the scientific tests that we have, we are in a good place from the preparedness perspective to face this effectively and minimise any kind of damage that the current wave might cause," he mentioned.