NIOSH-approved N95 respirators are recommended for preventing transmission of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. Jennifer Swanson/NPR hide caption
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face masks
Saturday
Tuesday
First-graders listen to the interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, Megan Reilly, read a book at Normont Elementary School in Harbor City on Aug. 16, the first day of school. Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group via Getty Images hide caption
Tuesday
Demonstrators calling on people to wear masks gather outside school district headquarters in Marietta, Ga., last week. A recent review at pandemic data finds requiring masks, capping the size of gatherings and instituting certain bar, gym and restaurant restrictions are all strategies that can help stop a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations. Mike Stewart/AP hide caption
Even Moderate COVID Restrictions Can Slow The Spread Of The Virus — If They're Timely
Tuesday
Kindergartner Allyson Zavala joined with other students and school superintendent Austin Buetner for a class selfie in April inside teacher Alicia Pizzi's classroom at Maurice Sendak Elementary School in North Hollywood, Calif. Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images hide caption
Wednesday
Thursday
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn't budged on its guidance that vaccinated people can skip mask-wearing, but some local governments faced with surging cases are going back to mandates, such as Los Angeles County, which recently mandated indoor mask use, including at places like bars and restaurants. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Thursday
People walk near the Chicago Theatre on Tuesday in the city's Loop community. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its guidelines on the wearing of masks, saying fully vaccinated Americans don't need to cover their faces anymore in most settings. Will it encourage the unvaccinated to get their shots? Shafkat Anowar/AP hide caption
Tuesday
Nicole McGrew, wearing a mask by the designer N'omose Couture, says she'll require customers to mask up in her store for a short time longer. Andrea Hsu/NPR hide caption
Saturday
For about a year, major U.S. commercial airlines have required all passengers who are older than 2 to wear face masks on flights. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
Tuesday
Students stand for the Pledge of Allegiance as they return to in-person learning at St. Anthony Catholic High School in California on March 24. Masks and physical distancing are proving to have some major public health benefits, keeping people from getting all kinds of illnesses, not just COVID-19. But it's unclear whether the strict protocols would be worth the drawbacks in the long run. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Should Masking Last Beyond The Pandemic? Flu And Colds Are Down, Spurring A Debate
Thursday
A CVS pharmacist gives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a resident at the Emerald Court senior living community in Anaheim, Calif., in January. Federal health officials have revised advice on nursing home visitations for the first time since September. Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group via Getty Images hide caption
Saturday
Agnes Boisvert, an ICU nurse at St. Luke's hospital in downtown Boise, Idaho, spends every day trying to navigate between two worlds. One is a swirl of beeping monitors, masked emotion and death; the other, she says, seems oblivious to the horrors occurring every hour of every day. Isabel Seliger for NPR hide caption
Wednesday
As new, more transmissible variants of the coronavirus spread, the CDC says wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask offers increased protection against the virus. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Wednesday
Tie the ear loops close to the edges of the mask and tuck in the side pleats to minimizes gaps (left). Or use a hair clip to hold the ear loops tightly at the back of the head to achieve a tighter seal. Michele Abercrombie/NPR hide caption
Wednesday
A health worker holds an N95 respirator in the emergency room at OakBend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, in July. N95s are tested and approved by a federal agency as having demonstrated that they can filter out a minimum of 95% of airborne particles. Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images hide caption