Today: The 2 Holiday Scenarios When You Should Wear a Mask at Home

Today online recently interviewed infectious disease specialist Soniya Gandhi, MD, associate chief medical officer of Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital, about when you should wear a mask inside your own home.

Wearing a mask in public to slow the spread of COVID-19 has become second nature for many people. But there are situations when wearing a mask at home is equally important—especially over the holidays—even though we may feel a false sense of security when in private.

"Whenever you have someone who is coming into your home that's not a member of your immediate household, they should wear a mask, you should wear a mask, you and whoever else is in the house should wear the mask," Gandhi told Today. "You don't know if that person is infectious—people can be asymptomatic and can still transmit the virus."

Gandhi advised wearing a mask and maintaining as much physical distance as possible when somebody comes into your home. She said these measures "are the cornerstones of trying to mitigate the risk of transmission."

These precautions even apply to family members who don't live with you. "There's an assumption that because people are family outside of your immediate household, that maybe you somehow have less risk," Gandhi told Today. "That's unfortunately just not true."

You also should wear a mask at home if someone you live with develops COVID-19 symptoms, such as cough, fever, fatigue and shortness of breath. Both you and the symptomatic household member should mask up when using shared spaces, until they can be tested and receive their results.

"If anyone has any symptoms in the house, you should assume it's COVID until proven otherwise," Gandhi told Today. "The individual should isolate the best they can, use a separate bathroom if at all possible, and try to get COVID tested as soon as possible."

Click here to read the complete story from Today.