HAMPTON ROADS, Va - The CDC is now recommending people wear a mask as COVID cases rise. There have been more than 14,000 COVID cases reported in Hampton Roads in the last three months.
Dr. Ryan Light with Greenbrier family Medicine said wearing the right mask is important, and he said cloth masks don’t protect much.
"When you want to protect yourself, a mask does work but it needs to be a KN95 or N95, which is the best mask.
There are several different methods of prevention.
"Making sure you have good hand hygiene, staying home when you’re sick," Light said. We can’t just do a mask-alone approach, we got to go back to social distancing and less being close to people."
News 3's Leondra Head asked several people if there guard is up and if they’ll start to wear a mask.
"I don’t like to wear masks at all," one resident said. "I can’t breathe in it. If I hear anyone coughing, I just walk the other way and try to keep that social distance. I’m just so over it. I really am. You’re going to get it if you get it."
One medical professional shares the same sentiments when asked if she'll be wearing a mask.
"Probably not unless it’s a dire need. At Sentara where I work, we have to wear masks. When I get off of work I take it right off. I’m free," a Sentara hospital employee said.
The employee has been working at Sentara Hospital for more than five years.
"I was working in the hospital when COVID first started and never caught for two and a half years until August. That’s when I caught it for the first time. It was scary," she said.
Although COVID cases are rising, Hampton Roads is not at the high-risk level for cases.
