Covid-19: WHO advises wearing
face masks in public
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| Shoppers wearing face masks in public (ANSA) |
The World Health Organization (WHO) updates its advice to
recommend that everyone wear face masks in public places, to help reduce the
spread of the Covid-19.
By Vatican News
To wear or not to wear a face mask? That has been the
question. Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic articles have filled the
pages of newspapers and magazines on the pros and cons of wearing face masks.
Now, the World Health Organisation has revised its advice
saying that evidence suggests face masks “can provide a barrier ... for
potentially infectious droplets."
A number of countries, including the United States, have
recommended or mandated the wearing of face coverings in public. However, the
WHO had previously communicated there was not enough evidence for or against
the use of masks.
The WHO's technical lead expert on COVID-19, Maria Van
Kerkhove is recommending “governments to encourage that the general public wear
a mask”, in places where there is a risk of transmission of the disease.
This new update has been supported by studies conducted in
recent weeks.
The UN agency continues to stress that face masks were only
one of a range of tools that can reduce the risk of viral transmission, and
should not give a false sense of protection. "Masks on their own will not
protect you from COVID-19," the WHO's director-general Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus said.
The World Health Organisation’s guidelines that all
healthcare workers dealing with COVID-19 patients, or with suspected cases of
the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, should wear medical
masks remains the same.
It is also recommending that staff coming into contact with
any patients or residents in clinics, hospitals, care homes and long-term
residential facilities should also wear masks at all times.
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