Level 2 mask use vital: experts
Mask use should feature in an alert level redesign, say University of Otago public health experts Nick Wilson and Michael Baker.
‘‘If there was a breach at the border, we would need to have a very good contact tracing system and include mask use at level 2 and above,’’ Wilson said.
This comes as coronavirus hot spots in the Australian city of Melbourne will be put into a second lockdown to stop the spread of the virus after a flare-up in cases.
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said this week that targeted lockdowns were not off the table, if there was a resurgence here.
This happened when two sisters were let out of isolation without being tested in June.
New Zealand has no community transmission, and cases would have to come from breaches in the managed isolation of returned Kiwis.
A single or isolated cluster outbreak would see the country move to alert level 2, where people would need to maintain physical distance and there would be a 100-person cap on events.
If it progressed to suspected community transmission there could be a move to alert level 3 and a return to bubbles.
But Wilson said the use of masks would dampen the spread without a full lockdown, and should feature in an alert level redesign.
‘‘If there was a breach at the border, we would need to have a very good contact tracing system and include mask use at level 2 and above,’’ he said.
’’We could avoid lockdown. Lockdown is such an extreme measure. It’s expensive economically and psychologically. We need the least economic damage and restriction of movement.
‘‘We need to think about how to make the system more robust if there was a border control failure.’’
Last month, the World Health Organisation updated its stance on masks, saying governments should ‘‘encourage the general public to wear masks in specific situations and settings, as part of a comprehensive approach to suppress transmission’’.
Baker said New Zealand’s current measures to stop the spread – coughing into an elbow, hand hygiene and physical distancing – had limitations.
‘‘None of these things help you much with respiratory pathogens where people are infectious a couple of days before they are sick,’’ he said.
Masks should be used in highrisk settings, and be included in the alert level system, he said.
One person in an enclosed space, such as a bar, restaurant or nightclub and public transport, could spread the virus to distances well over 2 metres.
International flights, airports, quarantine and isolation facilities, general practice waiting rooms, emergency departments of hospitals, and residential care homes were also places where the virus could spread.
‘‘The evidence is compelling. It [masks] is very effective at dampening down the transmission of the virus,’’ he said.
‘‘We need to include masking at level 2 and above.’’
Researcher Dr Amanda Kvalsvig, from the university’s public health department, said masking worked well when everyone was doing it.
‘‘I wear a mask to protect you, you wear a mask to protect me,’’ she said. ‘‘Another important point is that masks work in tandem with the other protections, especially hand washing.
‘‘If Covid-19 reappears in the community, and we all take these precautions, we have a better chance of carrying on with our usual activities and avoiding another lockdown,’’ she said.
Western countries do not have a mask-wearing culture because they haven’t experienced a pandemic recently – but this could change, she said.
‘‘Covid-19 has changed our behaviour in all sorts of ways. Many countries, Germany for example, have introduced mass masking and very quickly it’s become a normal thing to do.’’
But mask wearing while out and about was ‘‘less critical’’ while we do not have community transmission.
The latest advice on mask use on the Ministry of Health website says ‘‘there is no convincing evidence one way or other to require the use of non-medical face masks for healthy people in the community to protect from Covid-19’’.
Any significant changes would be made by Cabinet.