With virus cases surging, Boston hospitals adopt more strict masking policies

Respiratory viruses tend to spike in the winter for several reasons, says Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

“First, with the winter weather, people tend to congregate indoors,” Barouch said. “A second reason is that for the holidays, people tend to travel and have larger groupings. And thirdly, people are taking far fewer precautions now than they did in prior years because we’re out of the pandemic phase for COVID. So really, for all three reasons, we’re seeing a predictable surge now.”

That surge shouldn’t cause too much anxiety, Barouch said.

“It’s a reason for people to take intelligent precautions, perhaps more so for people who are more vulnerable,” Barouch said. “I don’t think that this is a cause of alarm, but I do think it’s a cause for vigilance.” Read more…