According to The Sun newspaper the outbreak of Coronavirus has led to an 846 per cent increase in the sale of face masks. But will they help protect you from the virus or not?
Dr David Carrington, of St George’s, University of London, told BBC News that masks can help prevent hand-to-mouth transmissions because they stop people touching their faces.
But quoted in the same piece Jonathan Ball said, “However when you move to studies looking at their effectiveness in the general population, the data is less compelling – it’s quite a challenge to keep a mask on for prolonged periods of time.”
I can relate to that. Wearing a mask all day, as much as you want to look after your health, would be very irritating. Also to do any good the mask has to be changed regularly and disposed of safely.
I also think that wearing a mask might make you think you don’t need to do anything else to protect yourself, when the best thing to do is to make sure you behave in hygienic way.
This means washing your hands regularly, avoiding touching your eyes and mouth, and staying healthy.
And according to Dr Jake Dunning, head of emerging infections and zoonoses at Public Health England, “compliance with these recommended behaviours reduces over time when wearing face masks for prolonged periods.”