{"id":39383,"date":"2021-04-28T15:31:17","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T21:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=39383"},"modified":"2024-07-18T13:49:40","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T19:49:40","slug":"mask-or-not-to-mask-outdoors-charting-coronavirus-guidelines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/mask-or-not-to-mask-outdoors-charting-coronavirus-guidelines\/","title":{"rendered":"To mask or not to mask outdoors? Charting a path through coronavirus guidelines."},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidelines for outdoor masking to prevent the spread of COVID-19. So has the state of Colorado and many of its cities and counties.<\/p>\n

As with so much as it relates to the coronavirus, the messaging has been mixed.<\/p>\n

The CDC\u2019s updated guidelines<\/a> apply to the fully vaccinated against COVID-19. While there\u2019s a lot of detail, they boil down to this: if you\u2019re fully vaccinated, don\u2019t sweat the mask when you\u2019re outside unless you\u2019re in a crowd.<\/p>\n

\"Three
The CDC\u2019s outdoor mask guidelines remain stricter than those of the state of Colorado and many of its counties. They\u2019re worth paying attention to. Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The state of Colorado<\/a>; the City and County of Denver<\/a>; and the former Tri-County Health Department covering Arapahoe<\/a>, Adams<\/a>, and Douglas<\/a> Counties have gone further yet. All three had lifted their outdoor mask mandates prior to the CDC\u2019s updates \u2013 for those vaccinated and otherwise.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a responsible citizen to do? After all, coronavirus variants<\/a> that are much more easily transmitted and more virulent<\/a> and deadly now comprise the majority of U.S. cases. The answer is to strike a balance, suggests Dr. Michelle Barron<\/a>, UCHealth\u2019s top infectious disease specialist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually am pleased with the announcement from the CDC that says if you\u2019re vaccinated, you don\u2019t have to wear a mask outside,\u201d Barron says. \u201cI think it will allow people to have more freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaccination matters when it comes to wearing masks outdoors<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But with freedom comes responsibility. When it comes to COVID-19 and outdoor masking, that responsibility means considering exactly where outdoors you are as well as, if you end up in a group, the makeup and size of that group.<\/p>\n

Even the fully vaccinated should continue to wear masks in crowded outdoor spaces, the CDC and Barron agree. Even in smaller groups, one should take stock.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren can\u2019t get vaccinated yet. Some people are in transition in their vaccination status. Some haven\u2019t been vaccinated at all. You don\u2019t want to make the assumption that people are vaccinated,\u201d Barron said.<\/p>\n

Indeed, as of April 28, the state of Colorado data<\/a> showed 30% of the state\u2019s population to be fully vaccinated and 44% to be at least partially vaccinated, meaning they had had at least one of the two required Pfizer and Moderna shots that comprised 97% of the doses administered in the state. (The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a single-shot vaccine, had been given 139,287 times as compared to Pfizer and Moderna\u2019s combined total of more than 4 million injections.)<\/p>\n

Take a (maskless) walk<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Dr.
Dr. Michelle Barron, UCHealth\u2019s top infectious disease specialist, speaks to wearing masks outdoors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the weather improves, the unvaccinated and vaccinated alike can walk hike, bike, or run without masking up, Barron says, as long as they don\u2019t end up in long, face-to-face conversations.<\/p>\n

The data back her up. Studies have repeatedly<\/a> shown coronavirus transmission to be far more likely indoors than outdoors, and rare instances of outdoor spread \u2013 some estimates hint at roughly one in 20 cases \u2013 were mostly at mass gatherings.<\/p>\n

A recent study from Ireland<\/a> found even slimmer odds of catching the coronavirus outdoors. Just 262 of 232,164 COVID-19 cases recorded in that country through March 24 (a point at which just 11% of the population had received at least one dose of vaccine) had been traced to outdoor transmission: a rate of just 0.1 percent. More than 97 percent of cases involving suspected outdoor transmission came from 41 outbreaks at construction sites and sports-and-fitness activities.<\/p>\n

Linsey Marr, a Virginia Tech engineering professor who played a central role in shifting the focus of coronavirus transmission to aerosols (invisible airborne particles), put it this way in an interview<\/a> with NPR: \u201cVirus just cannot accumulate in the air outdoors,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s like putting a drop of dye into the ocean. If you happen to be right next to it, then maybe you’ll get a whiff of it. But it\u2019s going to become diluted rapidly into the huge atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

But then, consider what John M. Douglas, the Tri-County Health Department\u2019s chief, said in the announcement of the department\u2019s relaxing of outdoor-masking rules: \u201cWe\u2019re not out of the woods yet. Until every person has had the opportunity to get the COVID-19 vaccine, many in our communities remain at risk for serious illness from this virus. By continuing to wear face coverings we can protect our friends and loved ones and minimize the impact that outbreaks have on our schools and businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the tens of thousands of new COVID-19 cases in the United States and Colorado case counts that are still bouncing between 1,000 and 2,000 cases a day, it\u2019s hard to argue with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue is, there\u2019s nuance here, and everybody wants a black-and-white answer,\u201d Barron said.<\/p>\n

The bottom line for now: go ahead and skip the mask if you\u2019re walking around the neighborhood or jogging, hiking, or biking further afield. But have a mask handy in case you end up in a crowd or in close quarters with those whose vaccination status you\u2019re not sure of. And if eligible and you haven\u2019t already, please do get vaccinated. It\u2019s safe<\/a>, and it\u2019s the ticket driving case counts down to the point that we can ditch masks entirely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vaccines are very effective, but you have to get the vaccine for it to be effective,\u201d Barron said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidelines for outdoor masking to prevent the spread of COVID-19. So has the state of Colorado and many of its cities and counties. As with so much as it relates to the coronavirus, the messaging has been mixed. 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