Why We Continue to Mask at Energy Matters
May 30, 2023
When Gavin Newsome recently lifted the mask mandate for health care and congregate living settings, we discussed it amongst ourselves here and decided we didn’t see any reason to stop wearing masks in our healthcare setting.
Pre-pandemic, we didn’t mask at Energy Matters, with the exception of sometimes asking patients who had active cold symptoms to put on a mask.
During the past three years, while requiring staff and patients to wear masks, we have not had a single report of a patient or staff contracting COVID or any other contagious illness at Energy Matters. Likely due to a combination of factors - disinfecting procedures, HEPA filters in every room, and mask-wearing - that are working well.
Meanwhile, patients continue to contract COVID and catch colds and flu.
Many of our patients are immunocompromised or otherwise medically vulnerable. Our staff would prefer not to catch a cold or flu or COVID while at work, and we certainly do not want our others to get sick from being at Energy Matters (reminder: you are generally most contagious before you start showing signs of a cold/flu/covid.)
For the foreseeable future, we will continue to mask at Energy Matters in all the common areas, and maintain our disinfecting procedures and HEPA filtration. Clinical staff will continue to wear masks in the treatment rooms. There are times when patients need to unmask in their treatment room in order to receive acupuncture on their face, or they may choose to unmask in the treatment room with the agreement of their practitioner.
From COVID, we learned that masking in healthcare settings makes good sense. We may revisit this decision in the future, but for now, please continue to mask when you come to Energy Matters. (We have surgical masks available if you forget.)
By the way, a week after the mask mandate was lifted for health care and congregate living, my 85-year-old medically vulnerable mother, who lives in a care facility, caught COVID. Masks do work. She’s OK now.
Keep on keeping on,
Kirstin Lindquist
Owner, Licensed Acupuncturist