Health experts projected a continuity in the use of the mask in the country, especially given the recent rise in cases of Covid-19. On Sunday, 9,454 new infections were reported, the highest number in Chile since the start of the pandemic.
The former Minister of Health, Alvaro Erazopointed to emmol that by 2022 “we are going to have a large part of the year wearing a mask; the European experience was very instructive in this regard.”
Different European countries, such as France, England or Belgium, allowed not to wear masks outdoors. However, faced with a new increase in infections, they have backed off and reapplied the use of face masks in open spaces, such is the case, for example, in Italy and Spain.
For the former undersecretary of Healthcare Networks and dean of the Autonomous University, louis castle, “masks should be worn chronically until we get out of the pandemic and the virus is endemic,” he told the aforementioned media outlet.
Meanwhile, the medical epidemiologist and researcher at the Center for Epidemiology and Health Policies of the Universidad del Desarrollo, Manuel Najera, projected the use of the mask “for a long time”.
“The transmission of this variant (Ómicron) is so great and could even be greater, that the mask ultimately becomes a control measure that is important to maintain to avoid contagion,” he added.
Nájera estimates that “the mandate for public use, on the street, will change, when we already achieve adequate immunity levels. But, I think we are going to have attitudes similar to those seen in the post-2003 East, when people faced SARS -Cov-1 and people continue to wear the mask in places like supermarkets, very crowded and not so ventilated; it may last beyond mandatory conduct “.
