ID Experts Urge Healthcare to Shed Universal Masking

April 19, 2023

(MedPage Today) – The time for COVID-inspired universal masking in healthcare “has come and gone,” even if only for now, infectious disease specialists argued in Annals of Internal Medicine. Expanded use of facemasks — for clinicians, staff, patients, and visitors — was implemented as a “critical protective measure” during the pandemic, but it was done so in the context of no population immunity, limited testing capacity, and no vaccines and therapeutics, wrote Erica Shenoy, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham in Boston, and colleagues in an editorial. (Read More)