Masks Still Required on London Transit

Masks Recommended at Disney World

COVID Cases Soar in Springfield MO

German Retailers Support Mask Wearing in Their Stores

Views About Mask Attractiveness Have Changed

Fully Vaccinated People Encouraged to Wear Masks Indoors Due Delta Variant

Kansas School Children will not be Required to Wear Masks

NYC Installing More Than 100,000 Air Purifiers

Germany to Start Classes With Not Enough Air Filters

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Masks Still Required on London Transit

Face coverings must be worn on London's transport network despite restrictions easing on 19 July, London's mayor says.

Sadiq Khan said he was not prepared to put Tube, bus and other transport users at risk by relaxing the rules on face coverings. Face masks have been mandatory on public transport for the past year to reduce the spread of the virus. But those rules will be replaced with government guidance advising passengers to wear masks only on busy services.

England is removing most of its Covid restrictions next Monday, and while Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he expects masks to be worn in crowded places, such as on a busy Tube train, their use will no longer be compulsory.

London was the first English city to insist on face coverings after Covid restrictions ease.

Other metro mayors have also joined calls for masks to be worn on public transport.

Masks Recommended at Disney World

The mayor of Orange County, Florida—where Orlando and Walt Disney World are located—issued a “strong recommendation” Monday that everyone in the county wear masks in crowded places indoors regardless of their vaccination status, as the major tourist destination sees a new spike of Covid-19 infections as summer travel brings more visitors to the area.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said he would not reissue a new mask mandate at this time after lifting the county’s mask order in June, but was strongly recommending people wear masks indoors when in crowds.

 

The county’s Covid-19 positivity rate has gone up from 4.28% in late June to 7.78% as of Monday, Demings said, and Orange County is “now considered by the CDC the high-risk category for community transmission.”

COVID Cases Soar in Springfield MO

The COVID-19 crisis in and around Springfield, Missouri, where hospitals are now flooded with coronavirus cases, is likely a preview of what's in store for the rest of the state as the delta variant continues to spread.

That's the belief of Steve Edwards, CEO of CoxHealth, a key health care system in southwest Missouri. Cox is currently treating 127 patients, similar to the number it had during last winter's horrific surge, and nearly a tenfold increase from the 14 such patients seven weeks ago.

Edwards said he hopes people in other parts of Missouri, whose vaccination rate ranks in the bottom 20 among states, "begin to realize that we're kind of a harbinger for the rest of the state."

Not only has the number of patients grown significantly, but their ages are much lower, with the average dropping 12 years since the winter. More concerning, they often have severe disease despite a lack of underlying conditions.

 

German Retailers Support Mask Wearing in Their Stores

German retailers still support the wearing of face masks in stores as they worry about another wave of the coronavirus pandemic possibly leading to new restrictions, an industry association said on Wednesday.

"We must do everything possible so we don't get another lockdown," Stefan Genth, managing director of the German association of retailers (HDE) told a news briefing.

Asked for his reaction to the decision by the German state of Saxony to lift the obligation to wear masks in stores, Genth said: "We warn against giving up such things too early."

Germany reported 1,548 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, 563 more than a week ago, to bring the total to 3.74 million. The death toll rose by 28 to 91,287.

Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Tuesday that more people needed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before restrictions could be lifted, following news that England will scrap nearly all curbs from next week.

German retailers expect to record a 1.5% rise in sales in 2021, assuming no further lockdowns, the HDE forecast on Wednesday, driven by a 3.1% increase in food sales, while the rest of the sector is set to record a 4.2% decline.

Fashion stores have been particularly hard hit, with sales still expected to be down 37% in 2021 compared to 2019 before the pandemic hit.

"Spending is bouncing back but shopper traffic in the inner cities is not back to pre-crisis levels," Genth said.

 

Views About Mask Attractiveness Have Changed

New research published in the journal i-Perception indicates that wearing a sanitary mask can affect perceptions of facial attractiveness and that these perceptions have shifted in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“Because the impact of COVID-19 is so strong, we wondered if the mask-wearing that became an ordinary behavior would alter our perception of attractiveness. We thought it would be interesting if we compare the present data with the one that we measured before COVID-19,” said study author Jun Kawahara, a professor at Hokkaido University.

In a study published in 2016, the researchers examined how sanitary masks impacted perceptions of attractiveness in a pilot survey and several experiments. The initial survey asked 202 Japanese women and 84 Japanese men whether they believed that female facial attractiveness was increased or decreased by wearing a sanitary mask. They also indicated whether they thought wearing a sanitary mask made a person seem healthy, unhealthy or neither. After the COVID-19 outbreak, the researchers conducted a similar survey of 153 men and 133 women from June 26, 2020, to December 4, 2020.

Approximately 44% of participants said wearing a white sanitary mask increased the wearer’s attractiveness prior to the pandemic, compared to 70% of participants amid the pandemic. Kawahara and his colleagues also found that the number of participants who thought mask wearers were unhealthy decreased and the number of respondents who thought mask wearers were healthy or neutral increased in the wake of the pandemic.

Replicating some of their previous work, the researchers also conducted a web-based experiment from May 19, 2020, to July 30, 2020, in which participants rated the attractiveness of 66 young Japanese female faces, half with and half without masks. A similar experiment, conducted on January 15, 2021, asked participants to rate the healthiness of the facial images rather than their attractiveness.

 Kawahara and his colleagues found that masks increased the attractiveness of female faces when their baseline attractiveness rating was low and decreased the attractiveness of female faces when their baseline attractiveness rating was high. The findings indicate that “the modulation of attractiveness by mask-wearing is related to the occlusion of critical features,” the researcher said. That is, masks can hide the negative features of unattractive faces while also hiding the positive features of highly attractive faces.

But mask wearing had no significant impact on the attractiveness of average female faces. The researchers also found that masked faces were perceived as less unhealthy during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with before the viral outbreak.

“People don’t have to worry about how they are seen by others. The data suggests that the average person may not be seen more attractive or less attractive. Just wear masks, if not vaccinated yet,” Kawahara told PsyPost.

But the study — like all research — includes limitations.

“We don’t know whether the same effect would occur when different kinds of persons are tested,” Kawahara said. “The present study used young Japanese female images with/without masks and raters were young Japanese male and female participants. We are currently measuring the effects across different groups of populations (cultures and age groups.)”

“We may be able to measure the progress of overcoming COVID-19 by examining the effect of mask-wearing on perceived attractiveness,” he added. “If people forget about the mask-wearing behavior, then its effect on attractiveness will return to a similar pattern that we measured in 2016.”

Fully Vaccinated People Encouraged to Wear Masks Indoors Due Delta Variant

The Delta variant, a more transmissible -- and potentially more dangerous -- strain of coronavirus, now makes up more half of all new infections in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This variant, combined with low rates of vaccination in many parts of the country, is leading to new surges in Covid-19 cases, which has led to Los Angeles County and St. Louis-area health officials encouraging even people who are fully vaccinated to wear masks indoors. The World Health Organization has issued similar guidance (the CDC has continued to say that vaccinated people do not need to wear masks under most circumstances).

To clear up confusion about masking, CNN reported the comments of Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen.

CNN: Are there circumstances in which vaccinated people should return to wearing masks indoors?

Dr. Leana Wen: Yes. Masks are still required in some settings, such as airports, on planes and trains, and in hospitals. If a business requires masks, you should still wear a mask, so it's a good practice to carry a mask around with you in case you need it.

The more difficult question becomes, what about settings where you don't have to wear a mask -- when might you choose to wear one? Here are the factors I'd consider.

First is your health and the vaccination status of those in your household. If you are immunocompromised, you should be wearing a mask in all indoor settings where you could be exposed to unvaccinated people.

If you live with someone who is immunocompromised or with young, unvaccinated children, you might still want to take additional precautions. Your chance of contracting Covid-19 and passing it on to your family is much lower once you're vaccinated, but it's not zero. Consider wearing a mask in high-risk settings, such as crowded grocery stores or indoor church services.

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Second is the level of coronavirus infection and the rate of vaccination in your community. These two are generally correlated: The areas with higher rates of vaccination also tend to have lower levels of infection.

If you're living in an area where over 80% of adults are vaccinated, and the Covid-19 rates are very low, your chances of encountering an unvaccinated, infected person is greatly reduced. You are probably safer going without a mask there compared to, say, if you're living in an area with less than 30% of adults vaccinated and where the Delta variant is surging.

CNN: Some people reading this will ask, "Why are we even talking about masks again, when the vaccines are supposed to work so well?"

Wen: The Covid-19 vaccines we have in the US do work very well. But no vaccine works 100% of the time. Think of the vaccine as a very effective raincoat. If it's drizzling, you'll be protected. If the rain is coming down hard, you might still be fine. But if you are going in and out of rainstorms all the time, you could end up getting wet.

Risk is cumulative. If you have multiple encounters every day with unvaccinated people, and there is a high level of community transmission in your area, your chances of having a breakthrough infection after vaccination will increase. You can reduce that risk by wearing a mask in the highest risk settings.

CNN: What if you're going to work and everyone in your office is vaccinated? Do you still need to wear a mask if there's no distancing?

Wen: Good question. We know that vaccination dramatically reduces your likelihood of becoming infected and of being an asymptomatic carrier who could transmit the virus to others. Your chance of becoming infected from a vaccinated person, if you're also vaccinated, is virtually zero. Going to an office where everyone around you is known to be vaccinated, even without masks and distancing, is very safe.

CNN: What about the reverse -- what if you have to be back at work, but vaccinations aren't required? Should you mask up?

Wen: That depends on the other factors we discussed. Consider your health, then the likelihood that someone at work could be infected based on community transmission and vaccination rates in your area. Also consider the circumstances at work. Are the people you are in close contact with vaccinated? Let's say that your workplace doesn't have a vaccination policy, but the two people who share your office or the three people with cubicles closest to you are fully vaccinated. That would be a pretty safe environment, and you probably don't need to be wearing a mask at your desk.

On the other hand, if you are asked to go into cramped, poorly ventilated conference rooms with people who you doubt are vaccinated, consider wearing a mask there, or, better yet, see if you could attend the meeting virtually.

CNN: Does the type of mask matter?

Wen: If you are immunocompromised and are in a high-risk setting, you should be wearing an N95 or KN95 mask or double-masking. Otherwise, a well-fitting 3-ply surgical mask should be sufficient, though if you're comfortable with the N95 or KN95, there is no harm to wearing that in crowded indoor settings.

CNN: Are there any outdoor settings where you'd recommend a vaccinated person wear a mask?

Wen: Not at the moment. The ventilation that comes with being outdoors reduces transmission so much, as does vaccination. A person who is severely immunocompromised may still wish to wear a mask at crowded ball games or concerts, but otherwise, outdoor masking should not be needed for vaccinated people.

CNN: What if people assume that you're unvaccinated because you're putting on a mask?

Wen: A lot of people who are vaccinated and want to be extra cautious are wearing masks. It could even be that the people wearing a mask in public places are actually vaccinated, and it's the people who are unvaccinated who are walking around unmasked. You should focus on doing what makes you comfortable. If you'd feel more comfortable wearing a mask in some settings, you should do that.

CNN: How does the Delta variant affect your recommendation?

Wen: Now that more than half of new infections in the US are caused by this variant, you should assume that if you were to come into contact with someone with Covid-19, it's the Delta variant you're encountering. This variant is more transmissible than any of the previous variants. There is some evidence that those infected with the Delta variant also carry more virus, thus making them more likely to infect others. The vaccines we have do appear to be effective against the Delta variant, though less effective than they are against other strains.

CNN: To be clear, unvaccinated people still need to wear masks?

Wen: Right. The guidance for unvaccinated people has not changed. If unvaccinated people are around other people who are unvaccinated -- or people who are of unknown vaccination status -- they should be wearing masks indoors. Outdoors, the risk of transmission is low, so no masks are needed there. This applies to kids too, so children under the age of 12 who are not eligible to be vaccinated should still be wearing masks indoors when around other unvaccinated kids.

With the Delta variant on the rise, I would be even more vigilant than before. If there is a situation where you're on the fence about whether to put on your mask, I would err on the side of caution and just do it.

 

Kansas School Children will not be Required to Wear Masks

Most Kansas schoolchildren and teachers, regardless of whether they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19, won’t be required to wear face masks next school year.

Schools find themselves under pressure to return to more normal, pre-pandemic operations. But officials say they stand ready to pivot — including reinstating mask mandates — if the pandemic worsens dramatically.

“Should adjustments to our plan be required,” said Alicia Thompson, superintendent of the state’s largest school district in Wichita, “we will bring our pandemic leadership team back together to recommend adjustments.”

She said her district weighed current data on infection rates, along with guidance from local health officials and feedback from a community survey, to craft the district’s plan.

Starting this month in Wichita schools, masks are optional. Vaccinations are not required. And regular activities will resume, including volunteers and visitors in schools.
 

NYC Installing More Than 100,000 Air Purifiers

Every New York City public school classroom will have two air purifiers by the start of the 2021-2022 school year, according to a recent report by Chalkbeat.

Chalkbeat reported that the city Department of Education (DOE) has already distributed 100,000 air purifiers to schools and are now working to ensure each of the city’s 56,000 classrooms have two air purifiers before schools reopen to all students for in-person learning in the fall.

They are high-efficiency particulate air filters, or HEPA filters, that lower the risk of exposure to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The pledge to ensure every classroom has at least two air purifiers confirms what Kevin Moran, chief operating officer for school operations, told Staten Island families during an information session last month.

This upcoming year, the DOE is going one step further, he said, by bringing a second round of air purifiers into the mix to make sure there are multiple units in each classroom. The city will also put MERV-13 air filters on air conditioning units and window units for use during the summer.

He explained that the DOE began a multi-layer approach when looking at well-ventilated classrooms for the start of the current school year.

“We took a real multi-layered approach to how we fix these things and how we supplemented them, so every classroom has an air purifier, every classroom has operable windows,” said Moran. “If it doesn’t have our windows, we bring in outside air, fresh air, and if it had to be recirculated during the colder months or the warmer months, we use MERV-13 filters -- as recommended.”

Custodians also work with principals in each building to make sure the structure is functioning as designed, and “if there’s a concern, we will handle it, and we’ll get to the building and visit and make the necessary repairs,” Moran said.

Before the start of the 2020-2021 school year, the DOE made improvements to its HVAC systems to improve air circulation, as well as replace regular air filters with higher efficiency filters. Air filters in building ducts were checked and changed to high-efficiency filters.

Additionally, air conditioning units will be identified and repaired, and other physical adjustments will be made to buildings in order to increase airflow.

The changes were made after New York State encouraged schools to increase their fresh air ventilation rate to maintain a healthy indoor air quality. Under the guidance from the state Education Department, the mandatory requirement was that schools must maintain adequate, code-required ventilation -- natural or mechanical -- as designed.

There are many different types of ventilation systems, natural or mechanical, that may be limited for increasing ventilation outside air due to available heat or fan/relief airflow capacity, according to the guidance. Schools were able to consider installing a higher efficiency filter, which may require a larger filter housing and will create greater resistance to airflow. The fan and HVAC system may have required rebalancing to maintain the code-required ventilation rate.

 

Germany to Start Classes With Not Enough Air Filters

Despite the spread of the Delta variant, Germany's schools will start classes after the summer vacations with too few air filters. "The implementation status after the summer vacations - in terms of new installations - cannot be reliably estimated at the current time," reads a response from the Federal Ministry of Economics to Green Party faction leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt, obtained by the Daily Mirror.

The reason, he said, is that the amended subsidy program did not go into effect until June 11, 2021. And depending on whether new installation of decentralized systems for classrooms or centralized systems for the entire school building is planned, there are different costs and implementation times, he said. According to the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, 176 applications for new installation under the new program had been received by July 1, and 84 commitments with a volume of around 21 million euros have been sent out so far. However, scientists have been calling for an offensive here for a year. The states criticize the federal government for launching a 500 million euro funding program too late. The federal government, for its part, says it is giving money, but that the states and municipalities are responsible for implementation. Actually, classrooms with sufficient air filters should be offered especially for pupils under 12 years, who cannot be vaccinated, in order to reduce the aerosol load, over which the Coronavirus can be transmitted.

"The fact that the federal government can neither manage a clear statement nor a promise as to whether its air filter promotion program will have an effect by the time school starts after the vacations is shocking and makes me stunned," Göring-Eckardt told the Daily Mirror. There are many Sunday speeches by ministers, she said.

"But when it comes to finally acting with foresight and commitment in this ongoing exceptional situation at daycare centers and schools, they once again go into hiding, dilly-dally and shift responsibility to the states and municipalities." This cannot be allowed to continue, "otherwise it will mean another education and childcare crisis in the fall." Children, young people and families must finally become the focus of politics. In addition to more air filters, more proactive vaccination offers are needed for parents, educational staff and young people who are willing to be vaccinated.

According to the will of the state ministers of education and cultural affairs, schoolchildren in all grades are to be taught in full groups and in their classrooms as far as possible after the summer vacations, despite warnings of a spread of the highly contagious delta variant. But in a survey by Daily Mirror Background on "Precautions to Ensure Classroom Attendance at Schools," there is a striking lack of clue about the status of practical preparations, such as the installation of air filtration systems - with the exception of the state of Bremen - up and down the country. Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) is threatening Bavarian municipalities as school authorities with a state directive if necessary. "We have almost 100,000 classrooms and practice rooms, but the municipalities have only purchased or ordered 14,000 filter systems. That's not enough," he criticized.

The SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach stated: "At the beginning of school there will again be no air filters". Since the Standing Commission on Vaccination (Stiko) would also "unfortunately probably not make a recommendation" for vaccination of 12- to 18-year-olds, only regular corona PCR tests of entire classes and strict quarantine rules would remain - virologists also suggest regular Gugel and Lollit tests, in order to secure school operations.

Bavaria's Minister President Markus Söder (CSU) said the Stiko should urgently consider "when to recommend vaccinating young people." This would increase protection for all, he said. "And we give freedoms back to a generation that had to do without a lot." The most effective means against the delta variant, he said, is schoolchildren's vaccination. From Bavaria's point of view, face-to-face teaching is the "most effective way of learning"; in planning the new school year, the state is guided by the recommendations of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Two weeks ago, the Leopoldina, in its role as policy advisor to the German government, issued an ad hoc statement calling for measures to ensure regular instruction.

The Leopoldina's reasoning was the psychological and physical damage to children and young people as a result of an education policy which, in the one and a half years of the pandemic - apart from banishing children to home schooling under the mistaken assumption that they could acquire knowledge and social behavior virtually through self-study - had come up with little that was imaginative in many places to even come close to meeting the diverse needs of children and young people.

This slap in the face has obviously had an effect on those responsible for education policy: The education ministries of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Bremen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, all of which responded to the Daily Mirror survey, agree that the sole focus on the number of infections should no longer be the sole indicator of whether schools should open or close at the start of the new school year, given the rising vaccination rates and the resulting protection of vulnerable groups in particular.

"With all due caution, I do not think it is appropriate to stir up fears - especially since people with an increased risk of a severe course of disease will be vaccinated to the greatest possible extent by the new school year," says, for example, the Minister of Education of the Saarland, Christine Streichert-Clivot (SPD), Daily Mirror Background.The number of infected persons would "then no longer provide a reasonable picture of the situation." "There we must also look at other criteria that provide information about the burden on our health system."