As Covid-19 cases have climbed, public health experts have urged people to dump their cloth masks in favor of higher-quality options and to test more frequently to curb the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday updated its mask guidance to note that the disposable N95 or KN95 masks offer the "highest level of protection" against the virus.

For some, the added financial burden is an irritation — but still affordable. To others, the prospect of paying $1 for a single disposable mask or $24 for a test kit is an economic impossibility, raising the specter that the pandemic will continue to exacerbate inequalities.

Studies: COVID vaccines effective, with limited waning In 1 of the 3 studies, vaccination was 98% protective against ICU stay and life support in teens. CIDRAP

A trio of new studies yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine report encouraging results on the effectiveness and durability of protection of COVID-19 vaccines against hospitalization and death, including teens.

Early in the pandemic, nurses were celebrated as heroes, with nightly symphonies of clapping or banging pots and pans. Now, many are being asked to go into work despite positive Covid tests — or they say they are being told they must use their vacation and sick days to stay home when they contract the coronavirus.

“You’re talking about a group of people who sat at bedsides — not one a night, multiple, because we were consistently losing people. We were holding the iPads as people said their last goodbyes,” said Ana Bergeron, a registered nurse who is the president of a local union affiliate. “I can’t tell you how sick it makes me now being called a hero, because that’s not how we’re being treated by our employers.”​​