Urgency to mask up again grows as delta variant spreads

With area public health agencies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention again urging people to wear masks in public indoor spaces, the assistant director of UW Medicine Clinical Virology Laboratory says proof exists that masks can slow COVID-19 variants and thereby save lives.

"It's helpful to reduce the spread of the virus," says Dr. Alex Greninger. "We've shown that before and we'll continue to show it.”

While the renewed effort aims to slow the now-dominant delta variant in both Washington state and nationally, wearing a mask will have the added benefit of staving off other viruses that circulate among populations, Greninger says.

"COVID is sort of like the front man for all the other respiratory viruses going on right now."