Why should the public be required to wear facemasks?
There is little dispute that clinically-approved masks, including respirators and surgical face masks, help reduce the spread of the new coronavirus in healthcare settings.
However, the advice on the general public wearing masks when out in the community varies by country. For many countries in Asia, wearing a mask in public spaces has been the norm since the outbreak of the new coronavirus and more informed by the 2003 SARS epidemic and 2009 H1N1 pandemic
Over the last few weeks, various European cities and countries have also begun to enforce the use of face masks in community settings, in what appears to be a worldwide shift in opinion and just recently, Uganda seems to share the same school of thought as the Government ordered for mandatory use of facemasks while in the public
President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, said: “We are going to make it mandatory to cover the face with a cloth mask…because the virus rides on the droplets; it cannot fly by itself. The mask may become a seedbed of the virus”
Additionally, World Health Organisation’s (WHO) advice, published on 6 April 2020, says that “wearing a medical mask [in a community setting] is one of the prevention measures that can limit the spread of certain respiratory viral diseases, including COVID-19”
But most Importantly, WHO warns that face masks are not a replacement for other protective measures, such as hand hygiene or maintaining 6-feet social distancing remains important to slowing the spread of the virus. They may be effective when combined with those measures.
Why do facemasks work in theory?
Evidence suggests that some people with Covid-19 are contagious before showing any symptoms of illness. Indeed, some infected people never show symptoms at all though NHS advice says that anyone with Covid-19 symptoms should be self-isolating and should not leave the house, so wearing a facemask in public should not, in theory, reduce your chances of catching the illness from someone who is already ill.
Because the virus is commonly transmitted via exhaled droplets this means that mask wearing for people who appear healthy can help to stop transmission of the new coronavirus virus to other people. This is known as source control.
The key point is that the benefit from masks is not that they stop people catching the virus, but that they might help to stop people spreading it.
How about creating masks? Are they actually equal
In it’s guidance, WHO makes clear that it is referring to surgical or medical masks, not homemade masks. Surgical or medical face masks are loose-fitting masks that cover the mouth and nose and are affixed to the head by straps. They contain fine fibres that act as filters to collect hazardous particles.
Cloth masks are washable homemade fabric masks and clothing items, such as scarves and bandanas, that are worn in a way to cover the mouth and nose. Cloth masks aim to create a barrier against large aerosol droplets leaving the wearer and reaching the environment
Cloth masks are not regulated so the protection offered will vary by mask. The only published randomised controlled clinical trial of cloth masks found far higher rates of infection when healthcare workers wore cloth masks compared to medical masks
Ultimately, WHO hasn’t recommended the use of cloth masks, but CDC recommends that coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost can be used as an additional, voluntary public health measure and several disease control agencies from the US and the EU continuously say that these types of masks may help reduce the spread of Covid-19.
The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention further “recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission”. A video is included that shows members of the public how to create their own mask from a household item.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control advised that “the use of non-medical face masks made of various textiles could be considered, especially if – due to supply problems – medical face masks must be prioritised for use as personal protective equipment by healthcare workers.” They write that “this is based on limited indirect evidence supporting the use of non-medical face masks as a means of source control.”
The authors of the clinical trial of cloth masks, mentioned above, have said that “the physical barrier provided by a cloth mask may afford some protection, but likely much less than a surgical mask or a respirator.” They further explain that improper disinfection and washing of the cloth masks likely contributed to the findings in their study.
Official sources stress that other protective measures, including social distancing and hand hygiene remain as important to slow the spread of the virus.
There are reasons why use of surgical masks in the community may not be advised
A major issue with widespread face mask use is that it can cause prices of these items to rise and lead to shortages in respirators and surgical masks for frontline health staff and, and there has been an evident global shortage of personal protective equipment including face masks
Another potential issue listed by the WHO is that mask wearing may create a false sense of security, which could lead to people not following other essential measures. Where local authorities advise that masks are worn in public, WHO suggests that “best practices should be followed about how to wear, remove, and dispose of them, and for hand hygiene after removal”
Where am I supposed to get a mask?
There are masks available online /and here but masks are out of stock in many pharmacies as those used for home improvements in many DIY stores