Covid-19 is two years old. The outbreak was public knowledge in China’s Wuhan by December 2019. In the two years, you must have heard scientists, public health experts, administrators and politicians using the phrase: ‘living with the virus’.

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi nuanced it as “jaan bhi, jahaan bhi” as the central government started lifting lockdown provisions in April 2020 when Covid-19 was still unraveling and SARS-CoV-2 was still creating trembling fear in the masses.

Now when Omicron, the latest variant of concern of SARS-CoV-2, is exploring places and people across the world, the same ‘living with the virus’ is the prescription from public health experts. The rule of engagement with the coronavirus is evolving with each next-gen mutation in the SARS-CoV-2.

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A new rule is being talked about: ‘2 out of 3’. Three here refers to layers of protection. These are vaccination, Covid-19 testing and wearing a face mask.

Medical analyst Dr Leana Wen, who is a professor of public health at the George Washington University in the US, has explained this as, “I’m a proponent of the ‘2 out of 3’ rule: when virus levels are high, you need at least two out of three following layers of protection: vaccines, testing or masking. This isn’t perfect, but substantially reduces risk.”

This concept prescribes people to stay indoors, when there is a huge army of viruses. But if one has to go out or assemble for an indoor event, one must make sure that they tick at least two the three safety boxes.

At an indoor gathering where drinking and eating are happening, the place is going to have a lot of people lowering their mask long enough for Omicron or any other variant to travel from an asymptomatic or symptomatic infected person to a healthy person. This could be the zone of high viral load.

For such a gathering, vaccination and pre-event testing are the requirements to stay safe.

If testing is not available, masking is a must in addition to vaccination. Keeping the ‘2 out of 3’ rule in mind, either skip such an event or do not drink or eat at the event.

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Since there are people who are still unvaccinated either due to unavailability of a Covid-19 vaccine or their choice. Such individuals could also be victims of SARS-CoV-2 and act as carriers of any of its variants.

If the event is being attended by such unvaccinated individuals, either they should tick the two of the three safety boxes or stay masked all the time at the event having entered the place only after testing negative for Covid-19.

For those vaccinated, they need to either get tested or use a mask if they want to eat and drink at the event. “These conscientious citizens [vaccinated people] should not have to keep paying the price for the unvaccinated,” Dr Leana Wen wrote on Twitter.

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Mask stays the single-biggest protection against infection by Omicron or any other variant of SARS-CoV-2. Wearing a good-quality mask is highly recommended. Good-quality masks do not include cloth masks. Medical-grade surgical masks or N-95-quality masks are considered safe in keeping people safe in virus-filled air.

Vaccines are the second-best defence against SARS-CoV-2 including its most transmissible progeny Omicron. Vaccines are not a guarantee against infection but they have been found to considerably reduce the severity of illness among those down with Covid-19. As countries face prospects of lockdown-like restrictions, following the ‘2 out of 3’ rule could help the world live with the virus without hitting the panic button.