The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: face masks

  • COVID-19 cases make a comeback

    by Sophia Escudero and August Linton

    Positive COVID-19 cases are once again on the rise in Humboldt County. According to the Humboldt County Public Health Department, 137 confirmed cases were reported between April 19 and April 26, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Humboldt County up to 17,311.

    A Humboldt Notification was sent out to the campus community in response.

    “The University encourages the campus community to continue wearing face masks,” the email reads. “We want to remind everyone that N95 masks are recommended and effective for reducing transmission for the wearer.”

    Tina deProspero is one of the COVID-19 testing staff currently working on campus. Despite the inherent risk of exposure that comes with her job, she says that she’s not that worried about being infected. She hasn’t tested positive since she started this job in August 2022

    “I make sure I’m wearing my N95, and if somebody looks like they’re going to sneeze I’ll put my goggles down,” said deProspero.

    According to deProspero, about half of the people come to the testing center are “weekly testers,” those who are mandated by the university to test weekly as a result of their vaccine exemption or other special circumstance. Visiting sports teams make up another large portion of the people they test. DeProspero says that she always sees an uptick in testing after breaks and after weekends.

    While mask restrictions have been lifted for campus, the CDC recommends wearing a mask indoors regardless of vaccination status if you are sick, have been in close contact with someone who is sick, live with someone who is at high risk, or are in a county with a high COVID-19 Community Level. The current level for Humboldt County is low.

    University testing services now require that students and staff being tested have insurance coverage. DeProspero said that in the case that a patient does not have insurance, the testing center gives them a rapid antigen test.

    “That really bugged me though, I was like, we better be able to test everybody,” said deProspero.

    Aside from wearing a mask, hand washing, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and socially distancing are still strongly recommended.In an interview with the Washington Post, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said that although rates of death and hospitalization have been decreasing, the pandemic is still active.

    “Right now we’re at a low enough level that I believe that we’re transitioning into endemicity. We’re not in the full-blown explosive pandemic phase,” Fauci said. “That does not mean that the pandemic is over. A pandemic means widespread infection throughout the world.… In our country we’re transitioning into more of a controlled endemicity.”

    That outcome is what deProspero is also anticipating.”I’m just hoping that it’ll work its way through,” she said.

    Free N95 and surgical masks can be found at the College Creek Mailroom, the Jolly Giant Commons mailroom, the University Police Department, the Admissions Welcome Center, the Library, and the Gutswurrak Student Activities Center.

  • Lifted mask mandate polarizes student opinions

    Lifted mask mandate polarizes student opinions

    By Eddie Carpenter

    On March 14, face mask requirements were lifted on Humboldt’s campus as a way to transition back to normal operations. This has created polarizing views towards how students and staff going maskless might affect the local community. Some students have chosen to ditch the masks while others still embrace them.

    Photo by Eddie Carpenter | Dillon Harp still wears his mask in solidarity with his peers.

    Local musician Dillon Harp expressed how one’s personal choice can affect the community as a whole.

    “As an African-American and knowing that my family has elders in it…the mask is just really there to protect others,” Harp said. “Obviously the mask can let particles in like more so than let particles out…Wearing your mask is really just about kind of looking out for the community for me. I ain’t really unmasking anytime soon. If we can all come together a little and see some of the basic logic behind protecting each other, our elderly family members- I think we can all help out and just keep the mask on a little longer.”

    Carlos Ochoa-Silvas, a rangeland resource major, expressed how masks gave him skin problems.

    “Wear a mask if you have symptoms of anything or if you feel like you’re not a hundred-percent,” Ochoa-Silvas said. “When I heard about it, I was mostly excited just because I didn’t like wearing the mask. I kept breaking out underneath and it was really irritating my skin.”

    Political science major Lake McLeod believes that Humboldt’s recent transition could not come at a better time than this.

    “Personally, I agreed with it. I think that eventually, we do have to kind of return to some kind of sense of normalcy,” McLeod said. “You know after two years of being masked…and the cases are down, so I feel like at this point we should learn to live with COVID like we do [with] the flu.”

    English and CRGS major Mireille Roman thinks of wearing a mask as an act of solidarity.

    “I would say that because it’s not a mandate now, it’s kind of become a personal choice to what you want to do with it,” Roman said. “But your personal choice still impacts people at the end of the day. I think the best way that my professor put it was like ‘I’m going to stand in solidarity with people who can’t take off their masks.’ Because there’s people who [are saying] ‘I’m perfectly healthy. I’m vaccinated. I’m good.’ Yeah, but just because you’re fine doesn’t mean that other people are going to be in a position to do so as well… but I think it really dictates the environment of a classroom when the professor chooses to wear a mask or not. Until the numbers are better and just nationally we’re more responsive to this, I’m probably going to keep wearing my mask.”

    Between March 15 and March 22, Humboldt County Public Health reported 72 new COVID-19 cases with 2 new hospitalizations.

  • Myths and Truths of Surgical Face Masks

    Myths and Truths of Surgical Face Masks

    Mirage of safety causes mask supply to plummet and xenophobia to reemerge

    The emergence of everyday people using surgical masks amidst the COVID-19 pandemic has caused mass misinformation and the perpetuation of xenophobic ideas.

    Myth: Surgical masks make you immune to COVID-19

    Typically found on hospital workers and sick personnel as a safety barrier, surgical masks are almost regarded as invincibility devices, protecting the body from outside pollutants and threats. The implied purpose of surgical masks is to protect patients from the secretions of a doctor’s mouth or nose during surgical procedures or to protect doctors and nurses from infected patients. Either way, a basic surgical mask prevents the exchange of bodily fluids, not air particles. Surgical masks are often mistaken as invincible shields against all viruses and bacteria.

    Surgical masks show no evidence of prohibiting the inhalation or contraction of the virus that causes COVID-19. The COVID-19 virus particles are too minuscule to be stopped by a surgical mask barrier. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “most facemasks do not effectively filter small particles from the air and do not prevent leakage around the edge of the mask when the user inhales.” In no way do surgical masks prevent or obstruct contaminated air.

    While surgical face masks are virtually pointless against COVID-19, N95 filtering facepiece respirators are different. These masks are personally fitted to the face and “filter out at least 95% of very small (0.3 micron) particles, capable of filtering out bacteria and virus particles,” according to the CDC. These masks are typically worn by hospital and treatment personnel that come in direct contact with infected patients. N95 masks prevent the inhalation of micro-particles.

    Truth: Surgical and N95 masks are running low

    Due to the personal fitting of each N95 mask, they begin to degrade overtime depending on their usage, storage and environment. The assigned expiration date and high demand due to the current pandemic has resulted in an unexpected shortage in supply. Doctors are now reusing their masks, but they risk contamination due to degrading components affecting the protection and performance of the mask. Government administrations are requesting N95 donations as well as demanding some occupations to give up their assigned mask for medical workers.

    While N95 masks are needed most, surgical masks are running low as well. Infected patients wearing masks benefit surrounding parties by limiting exposure of emitted particles into the air. The pandemic panic has misinformed the public to go buy surgical masks when patients and medical workers need them most.

    Myth: DIY masks provide reliable protection

    YouTube and social media platforms are advertising do-it-yourself face mask tutorials in response to the shortage in surgical mask supply. The misinformation has continued as people attempt to protect themselves with faulty protection materials. Bras and bonnets to sandals and plain cloths are being cut and trimmed to replicate surgical face masks. But, as previously mentioned, surgical face masks provide no protection against COVID-19 virus particles. Any alteration of store-bought or recycled material will have the same, if not less, protection against COVID-19 than a surgical mask.

    Truth: Mask usage has reignited xenophobic ideas

    Surgical masks provide zero protection from contracting COVID-19, but they have effectively reignited xenophobia. It’s completely normal for the mind to want to assign a face to an infected COVID-19 individual or picture what a threat would look like out of caution. Assuming someone wearing a face mask has the virus and extending that assumption past the mask, to their race or ethnicity, is disgusting, racist profiling. In a time of crisis, people should be exercising neighborly behavior and picking one another up, not perpetuating racist, profile-based assumptions on others in an attempt to accuse others of the chaos. It’s unproductive and invasive.