With COVID, flu and RSV surging, when and where should you wear a mask? Experts weigh in on how to think about masking right now. Jan. 9, 2024, 11:24 AM EST / Source: TODAY By Sarah Jacoby

The new year is kicking off with a spike in respiratory illnesses across the U.S., including COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus. Considering all the circulating illnesses right now, it might be time for masking to make a comeback, experts say.

“We’re certainly in the winter peak of respiratory viruses,” Dr. Albert Ko, professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Yale School of Public Health, tells TODAY.com. A post-holiday COVID spike alongside upticks of the usual winter illnesses, like flu and RSV, make this surge “very much expected,” he adds.

Wearing a mask amid a spike in respiratory viruses is “kind of a common sense thing,” Dr. Joseph Khabbaza, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, tells TODAY.com, like using a parachute when jumping out of a plane