Many good reasons to keep N-95 masks on beyond COVID-19

By Jai Dhar Gupta,

The world has been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has deeply changed our lives in a way comparable with the most traumatic events in history since the last world war. In India, a country with one of the worst communicable disease records on the planet, it took COVID to sensitize us towards airborne diseases. Airborne diseases can spread through infections such as coughs or sneezes, spewing nasal and throat secretions into the air etc., and one can catch these diseases simply by breathing. 

In India, not being able to see the forest for the trees is a real problem. We seem overly concerned about COVID-19, and masking due to the same, while there are other, possibly bigger threats out there. 

Here are some of the other airborne diseases/threats:

• Air Pollution – As per University of Chicago’s Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report, India is the most polluted country in the world and in North India, the entire length residing along the GT Road from Amritsar to Kolkata lives in poisonous air.  In 2020 alone, air pollution was responsible for 1.7 million deaths in India 

• Tuberculosis (TB) – Until COVID-19 emerged, tuberculosis was the deadliest infectious disease in the world. About 30% of the entire population of India is estimated to have TB. This airborne disease alone is responsible for over 5 lacs annual deaths. Within India, Mumbai is one of the hot spots for TB 

Other airborne diseases include the common cold, influenza, mumps, measles, chickenpox, diphtheria, whooping cough, etc.

How can we avoid the spread of these airborne diseases? 

• Steer clear of close contact with people with active symptoms of disease 
• Stay home when sick and avoid vulnerable people come in close contact with us  
• In crowded places, wear a N95 mask to prevent spreading or breathing in germs 
• Cover the mouth and nose with a tissue when we cough or sneeze. We can also use our elbow to cut down on the possibility of transmitting germs on hands 
• Wash our hands thoroughly (at least 20 seconds) and often, especially after sneezing or coughing 
• Avoid touching our face or other people with unwashed hands 

We are familiar with these strategies as we have been living them for the past 2 years. In India, we must practise these prevention strategies even beyond COVID as these airborne diseases spread easily in close quarters, such as schools, planes, movie theatres, nursing homes, etc., where close contact cannot be avoided. 

In our country, not only maintaining social distancing is a challenge under most circumstances, but even our hygiene and sanitation systems are poor. Therefore, we have enough reason to stick with the infamous N95 mask and other prevention strategies in the future.

 (The author is Founder & CEO of Nirvana Being. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the Financial Express Online.)