COVID-19 remains a threat, but prevention is easy and cheap

COVID- 19 is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. today. It’s not going away. New variants continue to emerge, and it seems as if COVID-19 will be included in our annual flu shot in the future.

The severity of the illness has diminished, but Long COVID has emerged as a persistent threat. Symptoms such as fuzzy brain, tingling in fingers, diminished taste/ smell, easy fatigue, and shortness of breath may appear after even a mild infection and persist for years.

We have two primary strategies for preventing this illness:

1. Vaccination — a series of two to four doses.

2. Masks — these must say “N95” and “NIOSH” on the mask to be effective. Paper masks with loops behind the ears are now essentially worthless.

Our vaccination rate in the county sits stubbornly at 52%. That means the person you meet in public may not have been vaccinated.

The other mitigation strategy is ventilation. Outdoor locations are inherently safer than closed spaces. There are standards for air changes per hour for indoor spaces, but most older buildings probably do not meet these. Electrostatic air filters do not help and come with their own problems related to ozone generation. The worst possible setting is riding in a car with someone you don’t know. The safest setting (other than outdoors) is probably an airplane, but only if you’re the only passenger. Otherwise, you are at the mercy of the person sitting next to you.

So yes. Most people who know about these things plan to keep their vaccinations up to date and will continue to wear a mask for indoor venues (stores, shopping, airports, planes, etc.) No one wants to get sick, and the threat of long COVID is very real. Prevention is easy and cheap.

ROBERT BURNEY

Sperryville