After half a year of living with coronavirus pandemic, what we’ve learned 、N95在保護醫務人員更優

What we’ve learned in six months

Much remains unknown and mysterious about the coronavirus, but these are some of the things we’re pretty sure of, after half a year of living with this pandemic. Our health and science teams shared their insights. Here are some of them:

1. We’ll have to live with this for a long time. The virus has shown no sign of going away: We will most likely be in this pandemic era for a year or more.

2. You should be wearing a mask. Researchers know that even simple masks can effectively stop droplets spewing from an infected wearer’s nose or mouth. There is also growing evidence that some kinds of masks protect you more than others, like N95 masks. •一份基於172項研究的分析顯示， N95和其他呼吸器防護口罩在保護醫務人員免於感染新冠病毒方面的表現，遠遠優於普通外科口罩和布質口罩 。這項週一發表於《柳葉刀》的分析發現，N95口罩可以提供96%的防護，而外科口罩只有77%。隨著各國重新開放經濟，這一發現尤其重要。

Jens Mortensen for The New York Times

3. We can’t count on herd immunity to keep us healthy. The idea is simple: If enough of the population develops antibodies, the virus will hit many dead ends when it infects people. But that may not happen, even if a vaccine designed to help your body produce antibodies becomes available.

4. The virus produces more symptoms than expected. At first, doctors focused on the lungs, but in some patients, the virus propels the immune system into overdrive and damages other organs. A loss of the senses of taste and smell, along with gastrointestinal issues, have joined early symptom lists.