From masks to temperature measurement, remember how actions against Covid have changed in 3 years

It was on December 31, 2019. On that date, the WHO (World Health Organization) was notified of several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, China, of unknown cause. It took a week, on January 7, for the Chinese to confirm that they had identified a new type of coronavirus, later named Sars-CoV-2.

Since then, humanity has faced the pathogen that has killed more than 6.6 million people worldwide, according to official records. During this period, there were many comings and goings about what to do or not to avoid a virus infection.

Who remembers the first recommendations for the general population not to wear masks in order to avoid a stockout? Or even the antiviral clothes that, in theory, would help prevent the transmission of the virus?

Raquel Stucchi, infectologist and professor at Unicamp (State University of Campinas), says that it is normal for preventive measures to change over time, especially when it comes to a new disease.

“Medicine is always moving, not only with Covid, updating its recommendations as knowledge also advances”, he says.

THE Sheet listed the main actions that were part of everyday life in the last three years. The changes were many, but for Stucchi, they are understandable.

“When we are facing a new disease, all excesses are justified. If it started again today, we would do everything the same, until we had the time and knowledge advanced.”

masks

Initially, masks were not recommended for the general population, especially due to fear of shortages of the essential item for health professionals and people with suspected illness. But later the indication changed due to its importance to stop the transmission of the virus.

“In three years, it has become a measure that is resumed with its obligation whenever there is a lack of control in relation to the number of cases of Covid”, observes Stucchi.

After they became more recommended, many people started using cloth masks, not least because they are more accessible. Over time, however, priority was given to the surgical ones, especially the N95 or PFF2 models.

Surface and hand cleaning

For months, people constantly sanitized purchases or any other object that arrived from outside their homes. The action was based on the idea that Sars-CoV-2 could be easily transmitted by surfaces.

With new studies, this indication has changed. “For Covid, this obsession, outside of what is routine for cleaning surfaces and shopping, is not justified, because it does not play an important role in the transmission of Sars-CoV-2”, explains Stucchi.

That’s because the important routes of transmission of the virus are through the air and droplets, when you are close to someone infected. Another relevant form is the hands, as it is common to take them to the mouth or eyes, allowing infection by the virus.

Therefore, although surface cleaning is no longer essential, hand asepsis with gel alcohol or soap and water continue.

For Stucchi, these measures should be better adopted today. “When there is an increase in the number of cases, the discussion is restricted to whether or not to return the mask, and no one talks about gel alcohol anymore.”

face shield

A structure attached to the head in such a way that a plastic screen is in front of the person’s face, as if to protect it. This is the most common image of the face shield, a piece of equipment adopted in the midst of the pandemic to prevent infections from the coronavirus.

In practice, the idea fell into disuse because it is not recommended in all situations, since there is no air filtration. According to Stucchi, the instrument should basically be restricted to ICU environments with confirmed Covid-19 patients, and associated with masks.

Another situation in which it can be useful is in the collection of exams from people suspected of being infected by the pathogen.

Gloves

At the beginning of the pandemic, an idea adopted by some people was the use of surgical gloves. “We talked so much about hand hygiene and alcohol gel that people started to think that gloves would also be important”, remembers Stucchi.

But in practice it is not like that. The main dilemma is that those who wear gloves will not wash their hands constantly, explains the infectologist. That is, the equipment can make it difficult to adopt hand cleaning — that is indeed an essential action.

Carpets and disinfection

At the entrance of some establishments, mats for cleaning shoes were placed in order to stop the proliferation of Sars-CoV-2. In other places, such as subway stations, tunnels that released substances to, in theory, disinfect passers-by were set up as a strategy against the virus.

Both measures, however, were not significant. “This proved to be neither effective nor important”, summarizes Stucchi.

In the case of disinfection aimed at people, Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) even released a technical note clarifying these products. In the document, the agency is very categorical: there was no product approved for this purpose.

antiviral clothing

The industry’s adaptation to the new coronavirus was also adopted over the months of 2020. Silver ions, for example, were tested on fabrics in order to retain the virus.

In practice, however, the idea is not the most fruitful. “Clothes are not an important transmission vehicle”, concludes Stucchi.

Another similar measure was to develop masks with these fabrics. However, the doctor explains that hospital models, such as the N95, are still more effective. Therefore, they should be the most adopted by the population.

temperature measurement

The tactic of taking the temperature of people accessing establishments spread in droves with Covid-19. The idea was to identify whether the person had a fever and, if seen, prevent the individual from entering. “This lasted for a long time”, recalls the infectologist.

For her, however, it is an “absolutely useless” measure.

One of the reasons is that the number of asymptomatic people with Covid-19 is very high. Another reason to question the measure is that even someone with a fever can get around the symptom without much difficulty. For example, antipyretics could be used by someone so that, when the temperature is measured, they do not present a feverish condition.

Social isolation

Stopping the Sars-CoV-2 transmission chain involved reducing physical contact with other people outside the home. Businesses closed, delivery services boomed, and apartment windows held more people than the streets.

Social isolation and suspension of agglomerations were recommended measures right at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the name “lockdown” became popular. Currently, they continue to be effective, although much less adopted.

Stucchi explains that, although with lower hospitalizations and fatalities, paying attention to actions such as social isolation is necessary, especially among those at greater risk for severe cases of Covid-19, such as immunosuppressed and elderly people.