General Wellness

Although much less common, infection through the eyes is quite possible. The cells of the conjunctiva (surface of the eyes) have a high concentration of ACE2 receptors, the ones the SARS-Cov-2 virus attaches to. Infection through this route has been definitively shown. Another reason is that your tears drain into the nose, which is why your nose runs when you cry, so the viral particles can travel from the eyes into the nose where they take up residence.

You don’t need to be walking around in ski goggles and in most situations, face shields are also probably unnecessary, but if someone coughs or sneezes directly into your face, eyes can be a target.

If you have visual problems, choose to wear glasses rather than contacts. The glasses are an adequate eye cover but the contacts are not. In addition, contacts can actually trap viral particles, slowing their clearance from the eyes increasing the risk of infection.

Face shields clearly help but they are NOT a replacement for a mask.

MASK UP
DISTANCE
WASH YOUR HANDS
DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE
VENTILATE
VACCINATE
GET HEALTHY, and now
COVER YOUR EYES.

Stay safe and be well.
AC

Before I go on, let me be clear. Testing is very important! 

There are various tests out there with various degrees of sensitivity and specificity. Although testing is very important, a negative test is not a PASS to do what you want.

The bottom line is that this virus replicates so quickly that within only 12 hours, someone can go from having a negative test to having a positive test, all without having any symptoms at all. It’s not that the first or second tests were wrong, it’s just that the volume of virus was too low to detect initially and 12 hours later, enough virus has replicated that now you can detect it.

Keep in mind that even with the negative test, you are STILL infectious and are spreading the virus to those around you, unless you are doing what is necessary to protect them.

There are many, many studies, both home made and scientifically done, showing the efficacy of mask wearing. They limit how much virus is spread out as well as how much is breathed in. In addition, studies show that even if you do inhale some virus with a mask, the severity of infection can be much less.

MASK UP. The thicker the better. I had poo pooed synthetic gators before. Although they are nowhere nearly as good as cloth layers or medical grade masks, and they can make things worse, because of how synthetic materials can aerosolize particles, overall, they do provide something. If nothing else, those around you see you wearing the gator and stay away from you!

Stay safe and be well. 

AC