How to prevent a second wave of COVID-19
Firstly, and most importantly, wear your damn mask! The second wave of the virus is a serious matter and it should be treated as such. It could cost people their lives and affect their economic well-being, says Dr. Greg Poland, professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, founder and director of Mayo Vaccine Research Group.
“If everybody just had a mask on we would dramatically cut transmission,” according to Dr. Marybeth Sexton, an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University in Georgia.
Moreover, a Cambridge study showed that if everyone would wear a mask, the second wave of COVID-19 could be prevented from happening in the next 18 months or even more. By then, we will already have a vaccine, so everything would be easier to handle.
“If we undergo large-scale second waves, you might lose your job,” he says. “People don’t seem to be making those connections.”
Secondly, maintain the same safety measures you did in the first wave, such as keeping your distance from others, avoid crowded places, and washing your hands frequently.
“You simply cannot get infected with this virus unless you breathe it in, or you touch an infected surface and then touch your eyes, nose, and mouth,” Poland says. “If you prevent breathing it in, and you prevent touching and contaminated surface and then touching your face, you cannot get infected, which is really powerful information.”
In addition, besides washing hands, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing measures “the only other thing that will change or mitigate the severity of a second wait is when and if vaccines become available,” Poland adds.
“The best thing that we can do right now is prevent infections, stalling this off as long as possible until a vaccine is available,” he says. “To do otherwise is ludicrous.”
Also, people need to get used to the fact that this virus will continue to exist forever, even though a vaccine will make our lives so much easier.
“We will be dealing with this virus forever. Effective and safe vaccines and hopefully ones with some durability will be very important, even critical tools, in fighting it,” Dr. Michael T. Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota said. “But the whole world is going to be experiencing COVID-19 ’til the end of time.”
