Do Cloth Masks Work? Plus the Basics of Contact Tracing
Episode Segments:
Do Cloth Masks Work? Everywhere we go, we see visible signs of the pandemic, primarily people wearing cloth masks.
Dr. Lisa Brousseau spent decades studying the efficacy and fit of surgical masks and respirators, and the aerosol transmission of infectious disease. She says there is no scientific basis for the general public to use cloth masks to prevent COVID-19. She explains why there is a great difference between the use of masks in medical settings vs going to the grocery store.
She is concerned that authorities who are ordering the use of bandanas and the like are not taking the issue seriously, and that masks may cause the public to disregard physical distancing.
Contact Tracing 101 Tracing the sources of the coronavirus involves a lot of dedicated people. Prathit A. Kulkarni, MD, from Infectious Diseases Section of Baylor College of Medicine joins us to explain how contact tracing works and why it is useful.
The Quarantine 15 It’s being called the "Quarantine 15"-- gaining weight while staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Donald D. Hensrud, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Nutrition and Preventive Medicine at Mayo Clinic and Director of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program talks about the common causes of weight gain during the coronavirus lockdowns and what people can do to avoid it and to get some exercise.