A woman wearing two face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 waits at a traffic light in Hanoi on Jan. 29, 2021, a day after Vietnam recorded its first coronavirus outbreak in almost two months. Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP via Getty Image
Amid growing concern over vaccine deliveries and new reported cases of contagious COVID-19 variants, health experts are reemphasizing the importance of social distancing and of wearing a mask — or even two.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said on Feb. 2 that at least 148 cases of the variants that first emerged in the United Kingdom and South Africa have been confirmed across Canada, even as overall counts of new COVID-19 cases continue to decline.
“I think there are definitely signs that the variants are certainly transmitted to a certain extent in communities, and we are not detecting them all,” Tam said Tuesday. “We need to be very vigilant and very cautious about relaxation of those public health measures.”
Preliminary studies have shown that the U.K. variant could be more lethal and the South African variant may reduce the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and antibody treatments.
Scientists have warned that another onslaught of COVID-19 infections looms on the horizon if more transmissible forms of the virus take hold, and until vaccines can provide herd immunity in the population, mask-wearing and social distancing are the best defence. While mask-wearing has mostly been touted as a way to protect others, some experts are considering whether people should wear two masks to increase the likelihood of also protecting themselves.