mask Archives - Mediarabe

Utah officials announce new pandemic strategy, mask mandates

October 13, 2020

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah is implementing a new strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic as the number of confirmed cases and hospitalizations continued to surge, state officials announced Tuesday.

The state will move away from its color-coded health system and instead place counties under restrictions based on their COVID-19 transmission rates, said Gov. Gary Herbert. Each county will be listed as high, moderate or low level transmission areas.

Six counties — Salt Lake, Utah, Cache, Garfield, Juab and Wasatch — have been designated as high transmission areas. Masks will be required in all indoor settings in these counties, and social gatherings must be limited to 10 people or fewer, said Rich Saunders, acting director of the Utah Department of Health.

In moderate transmission areas, gatherings will be limited to 25 or fewer unless masks are worn, said Saunders. Gatherings will be limited to 50 or fewer in low

You should smile behind your mask. Here’s why.

October 12, 2020

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The short answer: Yes, because it can affect your emotions as well as theirs. Here are the reasons you should continue smiling behind your mask.

Social contact is important for humans (including introverts)

Bea de Gelder, professor of cognitive neuroscience at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, says that, as social creatures, humans weren’t designed to obscure our facial expressions with cloth coverings. “Social contact,” she says, “is as essential to survival as food and drink.” It’s more than the fact that we rely on others to meet our basic needs in both the early and late stages of life, she says. Research shows that social contact improves physical and mental health, increases immunity and reduces stress.

This sense of connection supports our well-being, whether we realize it or not. Michelle “Lani” Shiota, associate professor of psychology at Arizona State University, explains: “When we’re smiling and engaging with other people, it’s

Iran plans to expand face mask mandate beyond capital

October 11, 2020

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DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran plans to make mask-wearing mandatory in public in other large cities after imposing it in Tehran to fight rising coronavirus infections, the health minister said on Sunday, as the country’s nuclear chief became the latest official to be infected.

Mask-wearing became mandatory in public in the capital on Saturday and President Hassan Rouhani announced that violators would be fined, as the country battles a third wave of coronavirus infections.

“We have asked the police and the basij (paramilitary volunteers) and other agencies to help us .. fight violations more severely,” Health Minister Saeed Namaki said.

“It has been decided that this action would start from Tehran and will be extended to other large cities in the coming weeks,” Namaki said in remarks carried by state television.

Meanwhile Iranian media reported that Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, had tested positive for

COVID-19 cases fell 75% in Ariz. after mask mandate, CDC report says

October 10, 2020

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In the scramble to protect against the coronavirus, counterfeit masks and other supplies flooded the market. Fake medical gear was just one of the problems uncovered in a joint Associated Press/Frontline/Global Reporting Centre investigation. (Oct. 6)

AP Domestic

PHOENIX — COVID-19 cases in Arizona spiked 151% after a statewide stay-at-home order expired and dropped 75% following local mask mandates, a new report says.

The report, published this week by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was authored by officials with the Arizona Department of Health Services, including director Dr. Cara Christ.

A stay-at-home order in Arizona expired May 15 and two weeks later — between June 1 and June 15 — the daily average number of COVID-19 cases jumped by 151%, the report says. The incubation period for a person exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus to develop COVID-19 is approximately two days to two weeks.

The spike

‘It’s a Slaughter’; Trump Halts COVID Relief Talks; Mask Up Between Bites in Calif.

October 7, 2020

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Note that some links may require registration or subscription.

William Foege, MD, the former CDC director under Presidents Carter and Reagan, suggested in a private letter to the agency’s current leader, Robert Redfield, MD, that he orchestrate his own firing by revealing the CDC’s failings and the meddling from the White House. “It’s a slaughter and not just a political dispute,” he wrote. (USA Today)

As of 8:00 a.m. ET Wednesday, the estimated U.S. COVID-19 toll reached 7,501,869 cases and 210,918 deaths — up 42,767 and 722, respectively, since the same time a day ago.

President Trump ordered his legislative team to halt negotiations with Congress on a coronavirus relief bill until after the election, but later tweeted that a total of $160 billion should be approved for airline relief and for paycheck protection. (The Hill)

Rick Bright, the administration’s vaccine-expert-turned-whistleblower, resigned from his job at

Health officials say political battle over COVID orders doesn’t change the science behind mask wearing

October 7, 2020

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Health officials say political battles over emergency orders don’t change the fact that wearing a mask in public will save lives during the coronavirus pandemic.

a group of people sitting on a bench talking on a cell phone: A mask is adjusted on the first day of school at Northeast Elementary School in Jackson on Tuesday morning, Aug. 25, 2020. The first cohort returned to class Tuesday with the second half of the students returning to class on Thursday.

© J. Scott Park | MLive.com/J. Scott Park | MLive.com/mlive.com/TNS
A mask is adjusted on the first day of school at Northeast Elementary School in Jackson on Tuesday morning, Aug. 25, 2020. The first cohort returned to class Tuesday with the second half of the students returning to class on Thursday.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued an emergency order Monday requiring face coverings in public spaces, restricting gatherings and limiting the capacity of bars and other venues. The order reaffirms a handful of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive orders that were invalidated by the Michigan Supreme Court last week for reasons unrelated to the orders’ ability to prevent COVID-19 spread.

MDHHS Director Robert Gordon said his emergency orders, based on a

Will a Face Mask Prevent The Flu And COVID-10? What MDs Say

October 7, 2020

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Face masks might help protect against the flu in addition to novel coronavirus.
The CDC doesn’t officially recommend face masks for flu prevention, but does point to other “everyday preventative measures.”
Doctors reiterate that masks can prevent respiratory droplets from spreading, including for both the flu and COVID-19.

Sure, people wear face masks these days mostly to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. But now experts say there might be an added benefit of wearing your mask when out in public: It could lower your odds of contracting the flu.

Like COVID-19, the flu is a virus that’s mainly spread through infected respiratory droplets. “Wearing a mask will likely decrease transmission of the flu as well,” says Richard Watkins, MD, an infectious-disease physician in Akron, Ohio, and a professor of internal medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University.

Rajeev Fernando, MD, an infectious-disease expert in Southampton, N.Y., expects that the 2020-21

A Face Mask Might Help Protect You Against The Flu This Year

October 7, 2020

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From Women’s Health

Face masks might help protect against the flu in addition to novel coronavirus.
The CDC doesn’t officially recommend face masks for flu prevention, but does point to other “everyday preventative measures.”
Doctors reiterate that masks can prevent respiratory droplets from spreading, including for both the flu and COVID-19.

Rajeev Fernando, MD, an infectious-disease expert in Southampton, N.Y., expects

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wishes President Trump would wear a mask more

October 7, 2020

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COLUMBUS – President Donald Trump’s recent COVID-19 diagnosis proves frequent testing isn’t a substitute for wearing a mask, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday.

“I wish the president would wear the mask more,” DeWine told reporters. “I wish he’d wear it all the time when he was in public. I said that before he had the coronavirus.”

Trump revealed early Friday that he tested positive for COVID-19 and then spent three days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He returned to the White House Monday, tweeting “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.”

DeWine said Ohioans should not be afraid of the virus, but they should not discount it either.

“Even the leader of our great country can get the virus,” DeWine said. “It can happen to anyone. No one is immune.”

When DeWine met Trump on Air Force One before a Dayton rally last

Mask mandates, health care key issues during fast-paced 1st Congressional District debate

October 7, 2020

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Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Republican challenger Jay Allen debated mask mandates, health care costs and student loan debt during a fast-paced debate Tuesday in the race for Maine’s 1st Congressional District.

The two candidates were cordial and occasionally found themselves in agreement on issues despite strongly divergent political philosophies.

Pingree, a progressive Democrat seeking a seventh two-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives, is widely considered the favorite in the low-profile race. Allen is a family physician and former U.S. Army doctor who is running on a conservative platform for a seat won by Democrats in every election for the past 24 years.

Those differences were clear from the beginning of News Center Maine’s televised debate when moderator Pat Callahan asked Allen whether the COVID-19 outbreak at the White House had changed his opposition to broad government mandates on wearing face masks.

“No not really because I look at

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