SEATTLE — More people have been ditching their masks since Washington state lifted its indoor mask mandate earlier this month after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new masking guidance.
But is wearing a mask still effective if everyone around you is not wearing one?
Dr. John Lynch with UW Medicine said the best way to stay safe is to keep your mask on, especially in crowded spaces. Lynch said masks continue to protect the person wearing them against COVID-19, as well as those around them.
While Lynch acknowledged masks are the most effective when everyone is wearing them, he said they still provide additional protection even if others around you aren't wearing masks.
In addition, Lynch said people should avoid using cloth masks and ensure they're wearing medical-grade ones.
“When we move in sort of the medical-grade masks, we get a much better and higher level of protection and then even taking that a step further, things like KN95s and N95s, these respirators bring it up even higher," explained Lynch.
Lynch said he wouldn't be surprised if the state rolls back to requiring masks indoors if there's another surge in COVID-19 cases. But said he's confident hospitals would likely keep a mask policy in place for the foreseeable future.
A subvariant of the omicron COVID-19 strain, BA.2, now accounts for 25% of new COVID-19 cases sequenced by UW Medicine, according to a release from the school.
The subvariant has been linked to the spread of COVID-19 cases in Europe and Asia and has been spreading gradually in the United States. UW Medicine first identified a case of the subvariant in January.
BA.2 now accounts for about 35% of new COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to data from the CDC. At the present time, the majority of cases are still linked to the original omicron variant.
Washington state’s seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 cases is still on a decline, according to data from the Department of Health. The state’s current average is 498 cases over a seven-day period, down from the rolling average of 19,228 cases over a seven-day period at the peak of the omicron outbreak in January.