COVID IS GROWING AGAIN... SO DO WE NEED TO PULL THE MASKS AND HAND SANITIZER BACK OUT? 😷🧴

Just when everybody thought COVID had quietly packed its little suitcase and left us alone...

SURPRISE! 😩

Current CDC data show COVID-19 is still circulating, and respiratory-virus monitoring indicates activity can rise even though we're nowhere near living under the conditions of 2020. Wastewater surveillance continues to detect SARS-CoV-2 in communities across the country.

So now comes the question a whole lot of people are probably asking:

WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO?

Do we start wearing masks again?

Do we need sanitizer hanging off every purse?

Are we back to washing our hands like we're about to perform surgery?

Relax. Nobody said go dig the six-foot stickers out the basement. 😭

But there ARE some simple precautions worth remembering.

🧼 YES, KEEP WASHING YOUR HANDS

This one never went out of style.

CDC recommends washing your hands with soap and clean running water. When soap and water aren't available, use hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.

So keeping a little bottle of sanitizer in your purse, car or at work?

Absolutely reasonable.

And let's be clear...

COVID or NO COVID...

Some of y'all should've never stopped doing this anyway. 😭😂

😷 DO WE NEED TO START WEARING MASKS EVERYWHERE AGAIN?

Not necessarily.

A well-fitting mask or respirator can reduce transmission and provide additional protection, particularly in crowded indoor environments, while traveling, or when respiratory viruses are circulating at higher levels. N95 and similar respirators provide stronger protection than loose-fitting cloth masks.

So you don't necessarily need to walk from your bedroom to your kitchen wearing an N95.

But keeping a mask available for situations where you want extra protection?

Not a bad idea.

This can be particularly important for people at greater risk of serious respiratory illness or when you're going to be around someone vulnerable.

🌬️ DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE AIR

One of the biggest lessons learned since the beginning of the pandemic is the importance of cleaner indoor air.

CDC includes cleaner air among its core strategies for reducing respiratory-virus transmission. That can include bringing in outdoor air, improving ventilation, using air filtration or spending time outdoors when practical.

Translation:

If everybody at the family gathering is coughing and sneezing and the windows haven't been opened since Easter...

Maybe crack one. 😭

🤧 IF YOU GET SICK, DON'T AUTOMATICALLY SAY “IT'S JUST A COLD”

COVID is still circulating.

So if you develop respiratory symptoms, particularly if you've recently been exposed or you're around someone at high risk, COVID should still be one possibility you consider.

And regardless of whether it's COVID, flu, RSV or another respiratory virus, staying away from other people while you're actively sick helps prevent spreading it. CDC's current respiratory-virus guidance emphasizes staying home and away from others when you're sick, along with hygiene and cleaner-air measures.

Because nobody wants you coming to work saying:

“Don't worry, I ain't contagious.”

Sir...

HOW DO YOU KNOW?! 😭😂

🚽 AND YES... THE SEWERS ARE STILL SNITCHING

Wastewater surveillance has become an important way of tracking COVID because it doesn't depend on everybody taking a home test.

CDC says higher wastewater viral activity can indicate a higher risk of infection in a community, although wastewater data aren't the same thing as counting individual cases.

So while half the country stopped taking COVID tests...

The toilet clocked in for work. 🚽😭

📌 SO WHAT SHOULD WE ACTUALLY BE DOING?

Nothing extreme.

🧼 Wash your hands regularly.

🧴 Keep hand sanitizer available when soap and water aren't.

😷 Consider keeping a good-quality mask handy, especially for crowded indoor spaces, travel or situations where you want additional protection.

🌬️ Pay attention to ventilation and cleaner air.

🤧 Stay away from others when you're sick, rather than dragging yourself everywhere coughing on everybody.

📊 And pay attention to local respiratory-virus activity, because COVID levels can be very different from one community to another.

🔴 LADY RED SAYS...

No, we don't need to go back to Lysoling the mail, wiping down every can of green beans and looking suspiciously at anybody who clears their throat. 😭

But maybe COVID popping back into the headlines is a reminder that some of the habits we learned weren't bad habits to keep.

Wash your hands.

Don't go breathing all over everybody when you're sick.

Keep some sanitizer nearby.

And if respiratory-virus activity gets high where you live, throwing a mask in your bag isn't exactly preparing for the apocalypse.

It's just another tool.

Because apparently COVID didn't leave.

IT JUST STOPPED POSTING. 😭😂

💥 BOOM!

730 BOOM RADIOIT HITS DIFFERENT. EVERY TIME. BOOM!