Although the few remaining pandemic restrictions and mandates are being dialed back — most recently, the federal mask mandate for public travel — medical experts say that avoiding infection carries benefits right now, and that it’s still possible to engage with life while taking health precautions.
“Delaying infections is actually an undervalued or underappreciated point,” said Dr. Abraar Karan, an infectious disease expert at Stanford.
He pointed out that people who have gotten infected recently are better off than people who got infected a year ago, given the advances in treatments and vaccines, and that’s only likely to become more true as doctors continue working on the many unknowns of the virus. For example, antiviral pills to treat COVID that were scarce just a few months ago are now widely available, officials said — and even offered on the spot at some medical offices, care facilities and pharmacies.
“Who knows what we’ll have six months or a year from now, right?” Karan said. “We’ll have even more things that we can offer patients. We’ll have a better understanding of the virus. We’ll have a better understanding of the costs of getting infected.”
Also, much is still unknown about the long-term effects of the virus, said Dr. Julie Parsonnet, an infectious disease expert at Stanford— all the more reason to take precautions if you can.
“We don’t know yet about whether even mild infections can cause chronic problems,” she said. “It’s known that there are neurologic consequences to COVID. There may be long-term consequences we don’t know for 20 years.”
In California, hospitalizations are continuing to fall despite a recent statewide rise in cases, but many experts say cases are likely being undercounted. With the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of omicron extending its dominance and masks coming off in nearly all public settings, those figures are expected to keep rising.
Not everyone has the luxury of being able to avoid the virus, Karan notes, especially during surges, so individuals taking precautions and avoiding the virus can help community transmission stay lower, making things safer for people who are vulnerable or cannot afford to miss work if they get sick.
Travelers — some masked, some not — head to security inspection at San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday. Following a Florida judge’s decision to strike down mask mandates, three major Bay Area airports no longer require travelers to wear masks.
Brontë Wittpenn/The Chronicle“The consequences of another surge will affect everyone,” he wrote on Twitter. “People being too sick to work will affect everyone.”
Experts said that being vaccinated and boosted is your best bet for protection against hospitalization and death, and that those eligible should consider a second booster as well.
But because breakthrough infections can occur, there are additional options for those who want to avoid illness altogether — and experts stress that doing so does not mean you can’t go out and engage in social or other activities at all. Perhaps you forgo riskier behaviors like indoor dining or going to parties when cases are higher, but your precautions don’t have to add up to total isolation.
In more dangerous places, like packed public transportation where masks are not required, a good, well-fitted N95 or KN95 mask can still protect you, Karan noted.
UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said that, for him, it’s about keeping tabs on his surroundings — if case counts and community transmission is higher, he scales back, but as those cases go back down, he’s more open to activities again.
“It’s a fine balance,” he said. “It’s about engaging with life and not being lonely, but also being responsible at all levels.”
He added that even for his most vulnerable patients, it is important that they still see friends and family rather than stay in isolation to avoid the virus.
“Even for the highest risk population, there’s a balance,” Chin-Hong said. “I would hate for people to not do anything because they are so afraid of any risk.”
Danielle Echeverria is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev
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People who got a COVID infection recently are better off than those infected a year ago, experts say - San Francisco Chronicle
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