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Abraar Karan Profile picture
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3 Feb, 5 tweets, 2 min read
1/ This story saying that a local health dept has changed their exposure time to any contact without masks ("1 second") doesn't mean that you will get infected in one second- but it does point out that 6 feet/15 min is not a hard/fast rule & never was.

theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…
2/ There are many possibilities for why new variants are "more transmissible"; but in the real world, figuring out the "why" takes time- and we don't have time. We must utilize the best protections we can right now- mitigation of risk is name of the game

3/ With vaccinations, it seems like our attention to other protection measures have fallen to the side- understandably bc there are only so many resources that public health departments have. Doing one often means not doing another (staff, funding etc)
4/ Federal support for improving our fundamentals (T/T/I/ventilation/masks) needs to continue. Otherwise, by the time we are "done" vaccinating the first round, we will likely immediately be dealing w/ doing all over again as new variants cont emerging via uncontrolled spread.
5/ Granted- we will continue vaccinating w/ boosters etc regardless, but the urgency & speed w/ which this must happen each time will depend on how much immune protection is lost w/ newer variants. #covid19

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More from @AbraarKaran

Abraar Karan Profile picture
2 Feb
1/ Contrary to some media headlines, our proposal for #BetterMasks has not been to “just give everyone N95s”

If that was, I would be using #N95Masks

I think of masks the same way I think of any risk mitigation. Better is better. Unregulated cloth masks not the bar to settle on
2/ we even specifically asked CNN to change the headline (they initially chose N95 masks) bc the idea behind this movement was always to provide folks w/ a multitude of options- N95s are one of those. But so are high grade surgical masks w/ mask fitters

cnn.com/2021/01/29/opi…
3/ The arguments saying “just get more people to wear any mask”- guess what?

We should do both

& getting “anti-maskers” to wear a mask is actually IMO a harder problem than getting someone who already believes in masks a #BetterMask (which helps them around those who don’t)
Read 11 tweets
Abraar Karan Profile picture
2 Feb
BREAKING

Huge push on the #BetterMasks front today!!

@RepAdamSchiff @BernieSanders @RoKhanna @brianschatz pen letter urging @POTUS to distribute high-grade masks via USPS + community locations & use DPA to scale up N95 & medical grade mask production!

schiff.house.gov/news/press-rel…
Cc @zeynep @jeremyphoward @ChelseaClinton @ScottGottliebMD @j_g_allen @jljcolorado @DrLeanaWen @IngridKatzMD @ashishkjha @CarlosdelRio7 @DrTomFrieden @rajpanjabi @MyahWard @drsanjaygupta @AC360 @rkwadhera @T_Inglesby @carlzimmer @apoorva_nyc @kakape
2/ We @RanuDhillon @sri_srikrishna have pushed for this for so damn long along w/ *many many others* — the momentum is seriously shifting. #covid19 #BetterMasks
Read 6 tweets
Abraar Karan Profile picture
31 Jan
THREAD
1//
The key points from our recent op-ed @CNN pushing back (respectfully) against Dr. Fauci & @CDCDirector who earlier this week on #CNNTownHall were asked about #BetterMasks

Variants, precautionary principle, communication & more
cc @RanuDhillon @sri_srikrishna
2/
 -new more contagious #covid19 variants could mean infection w/ less exposure time - better viral transmission needs better protection; cloth masks better than no masks, surgical better than cloth, but the bar must be raised now

-still transmit by droplets & aerosols
3/ -aerosol transmission better stopped by N95 masks (or equivalents, KF94, KN95, FFP2) or some surgical masks; electrostatic charge traps small particles; cloth masks not designed to do this

-cloth mask market & surgical mask market is poorly regulated; quality highly variable
Read 11 tweets
Abraar Karan Profile picture
31 Jan
As time goes on it’s starting to feel like the hesitancy around getting #bettermasks out to high risk or highly exposed people is less that this isn’t a good idea or isn’t needed- operationalization of this may be beyond capacity of what feds can/will do right now #covid19
2/ But- as with any interventions- if you believe in it, you must keep pushing for it. We believed #bettermasks were needed last year; we believe they will be needed for a long time to come. As @sri_srikrishna put it, they should be as common as fire extinguishers in your home.
3/ And I’ve seen some arguing about whether you may just use surgical masks & why N95 masks are needed. We actually don’t disagree with this IF you have a surgical mask that has been quality approved (@larmbrust has been tweeting about this) AND is fitted like w/ @FixTheMask
Read 6 tweets
Abraar Karan Profile picture
28 Jan
If any single intervention worked *perfectly*, it could feasibly stop the epidemic- whether test/trace/isolate; fully supported lockdowns until transmission is dead; 100% usage of high-filtration masks at all transmission points; 100% vaccination

Real world doesn't work that way
2/ Instead, we are trying to do a bit of everything. That can work, but it won't if everything is done below standard, which at times it has

This is why trying to improve every intervention we have is critical

More testing
Faster tracing
Safer isolating
Better masking
Vaccines
3/ Sometimes, it feels like new ideas to get us *better* are shot down bc not *perfect*- like #BetterMasks recently; response from @CDCDirector was that they are hard to breathe through- sure, but that doesn't mean they aren't needed, or that they won't help.
Read 5 tweets
Abraar Karan Profile picture
28 Jan
Short thread
1/ As much as we have been tweeting lately about #BetterMasks, & as much as wearing masks that offer higher source control & personal protection could quickly paralyze #covid19 transmission- even these are but one more tool in our playbook; they are not the only one.
2/ With that being said, the responses to our push for #BetterMasks from Drs. Fauci & Walensky last night on #CNNTownHall were frustrating- essentially "a mask is better than no mask" & "N95s are hard to tolerate for long periods of time"

??
cnn.com/videos/health/…
3/ To bring more nuance here, I have said many times this would not be as simple as "mass produce N95s"- you still need to make sure the fit is correct & that people are using them consistently during high transmission risk situations both outside AND sometimes inside the house
Read 5 tweets

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