We’re breaking down what you need to know about the pandemic. Send us your questions via email at COVID@cbc.ca and we’ll answer as many as we can. We’ll publish a selection of answers every weekday on our website, and we’re also putting some of your questions to the experts on the air during The National and on CBC News Network. So far we’ve received more than 48,000 emails from all corners of the country.
Do masks reduce your oxygen levels?
From big cities to small towns — and the entire province of Quebec — more and more places in Canada are making masks mandatory in indoor public spaces to help curb the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The new rules have sparked some challenges, including from anti-mask groups and people spreading misinformation about mask-wearing. That’s confused some Canadians who are left wondering if there’s any truth behind some of the claims. Sharon P., for example, is concerned a mask might reduce one’s oxygen levels.
The experts we spoke to said there’s no truth to that claim.
“I haven’t seen any medical or scientific evidence that shows that wearing a mask depletes your body of oxygen,” said Dr. Susy Hota, medical director of infection prevention and control at Toronto’s University Health Network.
Nor do they let any harmful gases, such as carbon dioxide, build up, she said.
So, you may feel hot or become more aware of your breathing, but “it’s not dangerous,” she said.
Dr. Jennifer Kwan, a family physician in Burlington, Ont., agreed.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide still get through your mask, but it catches the droplets that contain the virus, “which is what helps reduce transmission,” she said.
“As a medical professional, we wear masks in our day-to-day practice and it has not caused doctors or nurses or surgeons any harm.”
The real risk, said Kwan, is wearing your mask incorrectly, including sharing it with others, reusing non-reusable masks, or not cleaning cloth masks properly.
WATCH | How to wear a mask properly:
A face mask is meant to limit the spread of COVID-19. But if it slips below your nose, hovers around your chin, or you touch the outside with your hands, medical experts say that might be riskier than not wearing one at all. 3:55
“It’s very important with the increase in mask-wearing to also be teaching people to wear them properly,” she said.
That includes:
Washing or sanitizing your hands before putting it on and taking it off.
Handling it by the ear straps only. Don’t touch the front.
Keeping your face covered from above your nostrils to below your chin.
We addressed more frequently asked mask questions, including the best kinds of fabrics, filters and whether facial hair poses a problem, in a previous FAQ.
Is it safe to wear masks with vents?
You may be seeing people on the street with masks that have valves or vents designed to make breathing easier.
Jill F. is wondering if these masks are effective at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
The answer is no.
WATCH | The truth about valves on face masks:
A respirologist answers viewer questions about the COVID-19 pandemic, including whether masks with breathing valves make them less effective. 3:39
A vented mask may look high-tech and be more comfortable to wear, but Health Canada says they allow infectious respiratory droplets to get through and has asked Canadians not to use them for preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
“The benefit that we see from masks is often protecting others from you,” explained infectious diseases specialist Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti.
“So if you have a vent there and you have COVID-19 … you’ll be expelling those particles, so it defeats the purpose of the mask.”
There are some masks that look like they have a valve, but instead it’s just a plastic piece sitting on top of the fabric. Kwan says these fake vents are just for “esthetic purposes” and don’t compromise the mask’s function, so long as there is fabric behind it.
So skip the vented and valved masks. Both Chakrabarti and Kwan recommend surgical or homemade masks instead.
And remember: wearing a mask alone will not prevent the spread of COVID-19; it’s not a substitute for physical distancing and good hand hygiene.
Where are we in the pandemic?
Many provinces loosened restrictions after the number of COVID-19 cases began to decline but are now seeing a resurgence. That has many Canadians, including Tom L., wondering what stage of the pandemic we are in.
The country is still technically in the first wave, experts say.
In order for the first wave to end, we’d have to reach a point where we see “essentially zero” new cases, explained Dr. Christopher Labos, an epidemiologist, cardiologist, and associate in the Office for Science and Society at McGill University. Any influx that follows would signal the start of a potential second wave.
That means a second wave is not the same as a second peak.
“[A second wave] has to be differentiated from a second peak, which is within the first wave when the cases can go up and down — and go up again,” Labos said.
Despite significant decreases, Ontario and Quebec haven’t been able to get rid of the virus entirely, and Alberta is seeing an uptick.
“If the number of cases starts to go up again … it technically wouldn’t be a second wave, it’d be a second peak within the first wave because we never had cases go down to the zero mark,” Labos said.
Whether Canada will see a second wave isn’t a certainty. Some experts say it’s preventable, as long we stay on top of the smaller outbreaks that will arise in the near future.
“If we jump on it quickly and we have the capacity to do the early identifications, contact tracing and isolation, we can get through this without a big second wave,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease physician and scientist with Toronto General Hospital.
“But if we don’t, if we let our guard down, well, here it comes.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
