Multiple Efforts, Best Defense Against COVID-19, According to Health Experts
With two leading vaccines that can help stop the surge of COVID-19 patients, people are getting excited about getting out of the global pandemic. Why? Most of us are getting fed up with the safety protocols such as social distancing, wearing masks, and regular handwashing.
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Apart from reports that the pandemic has affected most people's mental health, organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still emphasize these safety protocols to prevent further infection. Furthermore, experts believe that the protocols' collaborative or multiple efforts are the most effective defense against COVID-19.
According to a zoom interview, University of Nebraska Medical Center's Department of Internal Medicine Professor, James Lawler, MD, MPH said that wearing a mask alone is like swiss cheese with holes. He added that social distancing, handwashing, and other protocols, when done alone, are not effective against the coronavirus. He emphasized in the interview that using the masks alongside the other methods (imagine putting slices of swiss cheese together can cover each other's holes) can significantly reduce one's risk and transmission of COVID-19.
What is the swiss cheese model of COVID-19 defense?
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According to Kottke.org, the swiss cheese model of accident causation is a framework for thinking about how to layer security measures to minimize risk and prevent failure. They added that the model's idea is knowing that the swiss cheese has holes, stacking them will reinforce each other and make the security greater.
According to Dr. Ian Mackay, each slice of swiss cheese represents the safety protocols such as masks wearing, social distancing, limiting time on crowds, proper ventilation, vaccines, and quarantine. He added that the hole is are the imperfections of each social protocol. When applied together, these imperfections are covered.
Emphasis on masks
In the zoom interview, Dr. Lawler, a renowned national expert in terms of infectious diseases and pandemics, said that cloth masks had shown their significance on community transmission of coronavirus, shown in the CDC study. In the interview, he said that face masks have diminished community cases of COVID-19, fatalities, and hospital cases. He emphasized that having a mandate can heighten the compliance of the citizens in wearing masks.
On the other hand, the director of Four Corners Health Department, Laura McDougall, said in an interview that a statewide masking policy would be even better in terms of efficacy and efficiency than the localities' current patchwork approach acting on their own. Dr. Lawler also added in the interview that there is a 6% drop in COVID-19 cases in areas of Kansas where masks were required.
What should you do?
When thinking of your safety against the infection, you might always say that mask alone is enough to protect you against COVID-19. However, given that security model, such as Dr. Mackay's swiss cheese, can somehow make a difference. Since vaccines are not yet available for everyone, the is still no absolute protection against coronavirus. Bearing in mind every safety protocol and trying to do all of them will reduce the risk of getting infected.
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Nov 26, 2020 08:00 AM EST
