PARIS, France– In the early months of the pandemic, the prevailing scientific advice was that frequent handwashing would help stop the spread of Covid-19.
In a closed and poorly ventilated room, these aerosols can float and drift in the air for a long time, greatly increasing the risk of infection. Initially, the World Health Organization and many governments insisted that masks should only be used by caregivers, patients and their close relatives and not by the general public.
And with the surge of the extremely contagious Omicron variant, many scientists are now advising people to wear even more protective masks like the FFP2 or N95 when in crowded indoor spaces.The coronavirus has claimed millions of lives around the world since it first emerged two years ago, but that toll would have been far higher if it had not been for vaccines developed in record time.