Discover why our recommendations about masks for COVID have changed
By now, you’ve heard about the Omicron variant of COVID-19. You probably know that it spreads faster and more easily than the previous variants. As a result, the guidance about masks for COVID has changed.
The Fertility Center of Las Vegas team bases our treatments and healthcare recommendations on the latest research and science. For this reason, our Las Vegas fertility clinic highly recommends that patients wear surgical masks or N95 masks instead of cloth ones. Read on to learn more about the science supporting this change.
Research supports the change from cloth masks to surgical masks for COVID
The point of wearing a face mask is protection. It’s meant to protect you as well as the people around you from contracting COVID. With the less-infectious variants of this virus, cloth masks appeared to be enough to get the job done. However, research shows that Omicron has changed the game.
It only takes 15 minutes to transmit an infectious dose of the virus if both the infected person and the non-infected person are not wearing masks. When both people are wearing a cloth mask, the amount of time to transmit coronavirus increases to 27 minutes.
You might think that 27 minutes of protection isn’t bad. However, many patients who visit our Las Vegas fertility clinic are here longer than half an hour. As a result, we recommend patients wear surgical or N95 masks for COVID to their appointments.
Our doctors and staff will also be wearing these types of masks. This means that the time it takes to transmit an infectious dose of COVID is greatly increased.
- If both people are wearing surgical masks, it takes an hour to transmit the virus.
- When one person is wearing a surgical mask and the other is wearing an N95 mask, it takes five hours.
- If both people are wearing N95 masks for COVID, it takes 25 hours of contact to transmit an infectious dose of COVID.
Surgical and N95 masks provide much greater protection from the virus than cloth masks. Because our goal is to keep our patients and staff safe while making parenthood possible, we recommend our patients wear at least a surgical mask during their visits.
Find the support you need to bring home a healthy baby
Your health and family-building goals are top priorities at our Las Vegas fertility clinic. Our team uses their knowledge and experience to help you get the customized fertility care you need to welcome a baby. We also use our compassion to guide and support you on every step of your journey to become a parent.
If you’d like to learn more about how our team can help you overcome fertility struggles to start or grow your family, contact us to schedule an appointment. We look forward to meeting you and learning more about how we can help you bring home a bundle of joy.
