Kansas City’s coronavirus quandary: Is it time for everyone to wear masks?
Jenilee Green has four kids under 8, the oldest a daughter with asthma. No way she, her husband or any of her children are leaving their home any more without a mask in the midst of a spreading coronavirus pandemic.
“I feel like this is good for the social good, for myself and for other people,” Green, of Kansas City, said Monday in the parking lot of the Midtown Costco, transferring a mound of groceries into her minivan. She wore latex gloves and a homemade mask; she also made masks for her husband and each child.
Should everyone be wearing them, as they do in China, South Korea and Japan? The Czech Republic and Slovakia recently made them mandatory.
“I’m wearing a mask because I’m taking it as serious as it can be, plain and simple,” said Kansas Citian Johnny Hall, 49, wearing a mask and gloves outside his truck in the Costco lot Monday. “That is amazing to me that not everyone is wearing masks. I feel like everyone, I feel like you should have a mask on right now.”
In the United States, health experts have insisted that masks aren’t necessary except for those known to carry the coronavirus, for those with symptoms, or for those working around vulnerable populations. The U.S. surgeon general in February told the public to stop buying masks, which are in critical shortage and needed by medical staff on the front lines of the pandemic.
“The only reason to wear a mask in public is if you have had known direct exposure to someone with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, if you yourself are exhibiting symptoms or if you are immunocompromised,” Dr. Larry Botts, chief medical officer for AdventHeatlh Shawnee Mission, told The Star via email.
“I cannot emphasize enough that the best protection for yourself if you are healthy is frequent, thorough hand washing and avoiding touching your face. And of course, you should avoid going out in public unless absolutely necessary.”
At a COVID-19 briefing Monday at the University of Kansas Health System, Dr. Dana Hawkinson, the medical director of infection prevention and control, said that masks, while possibly slightly protective, have the negative side of offering “a false sense of security.”
“The masks, when you are wearing them, they do offer a little bit of protection,” he said. “But when I’m seeing people, they are moving their mask up and down, they are fidgeting with it on their face. At that point, you’re contaminating everything.
“In addition, you’re also bringing your hands to your face. The most likely method that you’re probably going to be infected is if it’s on your hands — after you had (contact with) high touch surfaces — and you’re getting it to your eyes, your nose, your mouth.”
Experts disagree
The benefits of wearing a mask in public is controversial, Ginny Boos, director of infection prevention for Saint Luke’s Health System, said in a statement to The Star.
Some who favor it “acknowledge that the practice may only provide a modest benefit in preventing the spread of the virus,” said Boos.
“Masks are recommended to be worn if you’re sick with a fever and cough when around other people in the same room or car – such as going to the doctor’s office or if you’re caring for an individual that’s sick (fever and cough) and is unable to wear a mask.
“For those that are immunocompromised, wearing a mask may provide some benefit but best to avoid overcrowded situations to keep from being exposed and by doing frequent hand washing. “
Some experts and officials, she said, “are pushing for a shift in CDC guidance encouraging the general public to wear masks partly because of a belief that wearing one curbs spread of the virus as seen in countries using this practice.
“However, the CDC has not updated or changed their current stance. Shortages of masks for health care professionals exist and mask availability would likely be best served by those who need the protection in caring for those that are sick.”
The World Health Organization weighed in on the debate on Monday.
“The WHO recommends that the wearing of a mask by a member of the public is to prevent that individual from giving the disease to somebody else,” said Michael J. Ryan, chief executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme. “We don’t generally recommend the wearing of masks in public by otherwise well individuals because it has not been, up to now, associated with any particular benefit.”
Ryan, like Hawkinson, also said that using a mask improperly could present risks. He did, however, say that WHO has not come out against wearing masks.
“It does have benefits psychologically, socially, and there are social norms around that,” Ryan said. “And we don’t criticize the wearing of masks and have not done so.”
Botts said there “is some element of protection in wearing a mask if you are going to be in close, prolonged contact with someone with COVID-19. Close, prolonged contact is six feet or less for 10 or more minutes.”
Days ago, George Gao, director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told Science magazine he believes masks have been highly beneficial in China.
In January, Gao was part of the team that first isolated the virus that causes COVID-19. Science noted that he co-authored two papers, one in the The New England Journal of Medicine and the other in Lancet, that spelled out the disease’s epidemiology and symptoms.
“The big mistake in the U.S. and Europe, in my opinion, is that people aren’t wearing masks,” Gao said. “This virus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. Droplets play a very important role — you’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth. Many people have asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others.”
Which is exactly how Green and others feel. As the epidemic has grown, so have sightings of masks in public around Kansas City.
Some see it as a security blanket, one more layer of protection between them and the outside world and vice versa. For many, it is also meant as a signboard to others declaring: I’m taking the virus, precautions and social distancing seriously.
But are they more than just a feeling of security?
“Surgical masks typically worn are not tight fitting nor do the masks have adequate filtration to prevent small viral particles (germs) from entering and being inhaled,” said Boos.
“There may be some benefit as a preventative barrier that keeps you from touching your mouth and nose but in general neither the CDC or the WHO at this time recommend wearing a mask unless you have a fever and cough or are caring for someone who is unable to wear a mask” because of confusion or breathing difficulties.
‘A serious situation’
Botts said that if you have your own masks at home “and need them for yourself or your family because of an exposure to COVID-19 or someone showing symptoms, you may be able to prevent spread of the virus to other people in your household by wearing a mask, self-isolating and frequent hand washing.”
“I don’t have symptoms,” Green said. “I don’t have a cough or fever or anything like that. There is nothing wrong with me. I’m just doing this (because) I don’t want to catch something from somebody else. And I don’t want to accidentally expose somebody else.
Michele Williams, of Kansas City and her daughter, Shala, wear masks and gloves daily.
“I’ve been wearing them since the very beginning, Williams said.
“You hear so much stuff on the internet that the masks don’t really work anyway because it can enter in through your ears and your eyes.
“I just feel protected. I have a family, and this is my daughter. ... I just want to protect myself and my family, as well. “
She’s not telling others they should wear masks. She understands the case against them.
“That’s to each his own,” she said. “But I think people need to take this seriously. This is a serious situation, something that we’ve never seen before. ... There are people who are not taking it seriously. The parks have been filled with people despite the ropes around saying, ‘Do Not Enter,’ and they are entering anyway.
“ I guess they say, ‘Well, I’m coated with the blood of Jesus, so, you know, if it happens, it happens.’ I’m not ready to go yet. If it’s my time, it’s my time, but I’m hoping that the mask is going to keep me and my family safe.”
Kevin Lackey, 64, of Lenexa said he began wearing his mask about two week ago, after returning from Colorado.
“I want to be cautious,” he said. “I don’t want to spread it if I have it. And I haven’t had any symptoms. You could be a carrier and not know it.
“We all have to do our part in this and keep everybody safe, because our numbers are still kind of going up.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2020 at 6:38 PM.
