| In this week's edition of the Covid Q&A, we look at when it's okay to ditch your mask. In hopes of making this very confusing time just a little less so, each week Bloomberg Prognosis is picking one question sent in by readers and putting it to an expert in the field. This week's question comes to us from Heather in Brooklyn, N.Y. As rules have relaxed, Heather asked for clarification on when masks are still necessary — and when they aren't. Heather asks: It's now okay to go maskless in certain scenarios. Can you please clarify some indoor guidelines? This is a great question, and one probably on a lot of people's minds after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidelines on masks this week. In Brooklyn, as in many places, there are lots of folks walking around outdoors who are masked, unmasked or half-masked — clearly unsure of exactly what they're supposed to do.  Some beachgoers donned protective masks in Hong Kong. Photographer: Lam Yik/Bloomberg A crucial question up front is whether or not you're fully vaccinated (and that means not only having had all your shots, but waiting two weeks after your final dose to kick into full gear). If you're not yet fully vaxxed, well, not much has changed for you. It's still important to socially distance and wear a mask in all the same scenarios that you have over the past year. But if you are fully vaccinated, well, we've got some good news. As the CDC puts it, "you can start doing many things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic."
What does that mean exactly? Outdoors, masks are necessary in far fewer scenarios.
"The virus spreads most commonly by breathing it in from the air, usually coming from people nearby or sometimes farther away if you are in a poorly ventilated room," says Linsey Marr, an expert in airborne transmission at Virginia Tech. "Outdoors, the virus cannot accumulate in the air; it quickly becomes diluted in the atmosphere, like a drop of dye in the ocean. Studies have shown that transmission is about 20 times less likely to occur outdoors than indoors."
But, Marr says, masks are still a good idea in certain outdoor situations, such as face-to-face conversations that last longer than a quick hello, or time spent in close proximity to many people, like a long line or in a seat watching a baseball game.
"I'll stick with my 2-out-of-3 rule for simplicity, where you should do at least two of the following: outdoors, mask, distance," she says. "This means that if you are outdoors—you have checked off one item—you should then either maintain distance from others or you should wear a mask. If you are indoors with others, then you should mask and distance. This holds for unvaccinated people and those who are vaccinated but in a vulnerable category. Those who are fully vaccinated and healthy have a little more leeway."
If you're fully vaccinated, the CDC suggests its okay to gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people without masking or distancing. If you're indoors in public, gathering with vulnerable people or gathering with unvaccinated people from more than one household, however, you should still mask up. It's still also best to avoid large indoor gatherings, even if everyone is fully vaccinated — like, say, a big concert or a wedding. That will likely change as more Americans are immunized and levels of the virus drop. But for now, it's important to keep in mind that even if you're inoculated, that doesn't mean you have no chance of catching Covid — just a very small chance. And more people, as always, equals more risk.
If all those variables are a lot to keep in mind, Marr has one other suggestion.
"If you don't want to have to think about all this, it might be easiest to just continue wearing your mask any time you leave your residence — at least for the next few months as more people become vaccinated," she says. Thanks to all of you for writing in this week! Next Sunday, we'll be answering the best question we receive again. So if you have any, we want to hear from you. Write to us at CovidQs@bloomberg.net — Kristen V. Brown | 
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