We are now in the third year of the coronavirus pandemic. It may seem that COVID is over, and we can all just move on with our lives. However, it does not look like COVID-19 will be gone in the foreseeable future. Stats show a gradual decline in positive cases; however many have tested
positive and not reported it due to the increase of at-home testing. It’s still important to take the proper precautions to protect you and those around you. JAMA Networks dives into how you can control the spread of COVID-19 through masking and vaccinations.
How to Control the Spread of COVID-19
On March 3, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released a tool to help communities decide at what level risk their community was at for the virus and what prevention steps to take. These levels are based off the hospital bed utilization, hospital admissions, and total number of COVID-19 cases in a community.
Initially, more than 90% of the US population was living in a location where their COVID-19 Community Level was considered low or medium. In these locations, indoor masking was not required. However, as of May 25, 2022, COVID-19 cases have been increasing drastically approaching 100,000 and about 9.2% of counties are in the high Community Level.
With many counties having opposing regulations on masking, those that are still masking are wondering the effectiveness of one-way masking. One-way masking is still effective, but for the best protection you should wear a KN95 or N95 mask. Studies have shown that you are less likely to get COVID-19 if you are wearing a mask indoors, rather than not one at all.
Vaccinations
The goal of getting a vaccination is to protect against serious illness, being hospitalized, or dying. Vaccinating has shown to reduce the effects of long-term symptoms of COVID-19. This remains the recommended way to prevent the spread of the disease locally and globally. Now that the booster is available, it is important to stay up to date on all your COVID-19 shots. Read for more information on when you can get your next shot here.
Tria Health Can Help
Tria Health provides chronic condition management, many of our patients are at a higher risk for serious illness with COVID-19, our pharmacists have been actively educating engaged patients on risk factors and the importance of prevention techniques. For members that have not engaged with Tria Health, but are at high risk, Tria Health is providing additional communication and outreach to stress the importance of good health management and how our pharmacists can be a valuable resource. And, as always, our help desk is available to all members. We are committed to assisting members with any questions they may have about their medications, risk factors or ways they can mitigate their risk. 888.799.8742
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