COVID-19Common question

CDC recommends universal indoor masking by students, staff members, faculty, and visitors in kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12) schools, regardless of vaccination status, to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (1).

What are the CDC's recommendations for face masks in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic?

• Indoors: CDC recommends indoor masking for all individuals age 2 years and older, including students, teachers, staff, and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.
• Outdoors: In general, people do not need to wear masks when outdoors. CDC recommends that people who are not fully vaccinated wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings or during activities that involve sustained close contact with other people. Fully vaccinated people might choose to wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings if they or someone in their household is immunocompromised.

What is the recommended distance from students in school during the COVID-19 pandemic?

•Due to the circulating and highly contagious Delta variant, CDC recommends universal indoor masking by all students (age 2 and older), staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.

•In addition to universal indoor masking, CDC recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms to reduce transmission risk. When it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 3 feet, such as when schools cannot fully re-open while maintaining these distances, it is especially important to layer multiple other prevention strategies, such as screening testing.

What are the most important prevention strategies for COVID-19 in schools?

• The most important prevention strategies to prioritize in schools include vaccinations for teachers, staff, and eligible students, the use of masks and physical distancing, and screening testing.

What is the recommended age to wear a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Face masks can be safely worn by all children 2 years of age and older, including most children with special health conditions, with rare exception.

Children should not wear a mask if they are under 2 years old, however, because of suffocation risk.

Should kids wear face masks in school?

Who shouldn't wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Masks should not be placed on Children younger than 2 years old or Anyone who has trouble breathing or is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove the cover without assistance.

Under which circumstances are people not required to wear a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic?

• while eating, drinking, or taking medication for brief periods of time;
• while communicating, for brief periods of time, with a person who is hearing impaired when the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication;
• if, on an aircraft, wearing of oxygen masks is needed because of loss of cabin pressure or other event affecting aircraft ventilation;
• if unconscious (for reasons other than sleeping), incapacitated, unable to be awakened, or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance; or
• when necessary to temporarily remove the mask to verify one’s identity such as during Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening or when asked to do so by the ticket or gate agent or any law enforcement official.

How can I prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease?

• Wash your hands often with plain soap and water. The CDC recommends washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. If soap and water are not available, the CDC recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol. Learn more about safely using hand sanitizer.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face covering or non-surgical mask when around others. Find more information about how to select, wear, and clean your mask.
• Avoid crowds and practice social distancing (stay at least 6 feet apart from others).
• Get the COVID-19 vaccine when it is offered to you.

What are the strategies implemented for the control of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Strategies in the control of an outbreak are screening, containment (or suppression), and mitigation. Screening is done with a device such as a thermometer to detect the elevated body temperature associated with fevers caused by the coronavirus.[185] Containment is undertaken in the early stages of the outbreak and aims to trace and isolate those infected as well as introduce other measures to stop the disease from spreading. When it is no longer possible to contain the disease, efforts then move to the mitigation stage: measures are taken to slow the spread and mitigate its effects on the healthcare system and society. A combination of both containment and mitigation measures may be undertaken at the same time.[186] Suppression requires more extreme measures so as to reverse the pandemic by reducing the basic reproduction number to less than 1.[187]

Can I still have sex during the coronavirus pandemic?

If both of you are healthy and feeling well, are practicing social distancing and have had no known exposure to anyone with COVID-19, touching, hugging, kissing, and sex are more likely to be safe.

What is the minimum distance to be kept from each other to avoid COVID-19?

Be a hero and break the chain of COVID-19 transmission by practicing physical distancing.

This means we keep a distance of at least 1m from each other and avoid spending time in crowded places or in groups.

What is the social distancing guideline for COVID-19?

Stay at least 6 feet (about 2 arms' length) from other people. Keeping distance from others is especially important for people who are at higher risk of getting very sick.

How far away should you distance yourself from people during the COVID-19 pandemic?

• Outside your home: Put 6 feet of distance between yourself and people who don’t live in your household.
- Remember that some people without symptoms may be able to spread virus.
- Stay at least 6 feet (about 2 arm lengths) from other people.

What should workers know about cloth face coverings and the protection they provide?

• Cloth face coverings, whether provided by the employer or brought from home by the worker, are not respirators or disposable facemasks and do not protect the worker wearing them from exposures.
• Cloth face coverings are only intended to help contain the wearer's respiratory droplets from being spread.
• Used in this way, CDC has recommended cloth face coverings to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. Wearing them may help people who unknowingly have the virus from spreading it to others.
• Workers can wear a cloth face covering if the employer has determined that a respirator or a disposable facemask is NOT required based on the workplace hazard assessment.

Are you required to wear a mask in school buses during the COVID-19 pandemic according to the CDC?

Passengers and drivers must wear a mask on school buses, including on buses operated by public and private school systems, regardless of vaccination status, subject to the exclusions and exemptions in CDC's Order.

Does wearing a cloth mask over a medical one reduce exposure to COVID-19 more than wearing just one mask?

Based on experiments that measured the filtration efficiencies of various cloth masks and a medical procedure mask (6), it was estimated that the better fit achieved by combining these two mask types, specifically a cloth mask over a medical procedure mask, could reduce a wearer's exposure by >90%.

What is the purpose of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic?

The goal of social distancing is to limit exposure by reducing face-to-face contact and preventing spread among people in community settings. What these actions look like at the community level will vary depending on local conditions.

What is appropriate for one community seeing local transmission won't necessarily be appropriate for a community where no local transmission has occurred.

What engineering and administrative control measures can be taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19?

• Use physical barriers and other engineering controls
• Limit number of patients going to hospital or outpatient settings
• Use telemedicine whenever possible
• Exclude all HCP not directly involved in patient care
• Limit face-to-face HCP encounters with patients

How long is the incubation period for COVID-19?

- The incubation period for COVID-19. Given that the incubation period can be up to 14 days, CDC recommends conducting screening testing at least weekly.

How does COVID-19 mainly spread?

Spread of COVID-19 occurs via airborne particles and droplets. People who are infected with COVID can release particles and droplets of respiratory fluids that contain the SARS CoV-2 virus into the air when they exhale (e.g., quiet breathing, speaking, singing, exercise, coughing, sneezing).

What are some ways our family can help slow the spread of COVID-19?

• Get a COVID-19 vaccine.
• Wash your hands often with plain soap and water.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a mask when around others.
• Avoid crowds and practice social distancing (stay at least 6 feet apart from others).

What happens if I don’t wear a mask in an indoor area or a public transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic?

On conveyances with no outdoor spaces, operators of public transportation conveyances must refuse to board anyone not wearing a mask that completely covers the mouth and nose. On conveyances with outdoor areas, operators must refuse to allow entry to indoor areas to anyone not wearing a mask.

Do I have to wear a mask every time I leave the house?

You should be wearing a mask outside if:
• It is difficult to maintain the recommended 6-foot social distancing from others (such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy or walking on a busy street or in a crowded neighborhood)
• If required to by law. Many areas now have mandatory masking regulations when in public

When is a cloth face covering not appropriate while at work, and what can employees wear instead?

Cloth face coverings can prevent the wearer from spreading COVID-19 to others, but they may not always be appropriate. Employees should consider using an alternative under certain conditions at work, including:

• If they have trouble breathing.
• If they are unable to remove it without help.
• If it interferes with vision, glasses, or eye protection.
• If straps, strings, or other parts of the covering could get caught in equipment.
• If other work hazards associated with wearing the covering are identified and cannot be addressed without removal of the face covering.

Cloth face coverings should not be worn if their use creates a new risk (e.g., interferes with driving or vision, contributes to heat-related illness) that exceeds their benefit of slowing the spread of the virus.

Does wearing a mask harm your health?

No, wearing a mask will not harm your health even if you are sick with a cold or allergies. If your mask gets too moist just make sure you are changing it regularly.