Are N95 Masks Helpful for Wildfire Smoke?

Good morning. So far this August, California has been hit hard by wildfires, record high temperatures and power blackouts, all in the midst of a pandemic. One reader asked how residents with respiratory illnesses are faring.

Evan Underwood, who suffers from asthma, migraines and heat sensitivity, has been quarantined inside his home in San Ramon for months. And now, with wildfires raging across Northern California, if the air quality index — which measures pollution levels — goes above 100, going outside for even a few minutes would trigger an asthma attack and migraine that would last an entire day. His plan is to hunker down at home until fire season is over, as long as he doesn’t lose power or is forced to evacuate.

For our series answering readers’ questions about life during the pandemic, Mr. Underwood asked us about how smoke inhalation is affecting people who are high risk for severe Covid-19, like himself, and if they are more vulnerable to significant illness. “If our whole region is bathed in smoke, when so many people still have damaged lungs, the virus is still endemic and people are going back to work, that can’t be good, can it?” he wrote.

As my colleagues have reported, Covid-19 and smoke is a dangerous combination, as both affect the respiratory system, making those exposed to the virus more vulnerable.