Cases are ticking upwards in parts of Europe and the Americas are still battling to contain vast Covid-19 outbreaks.
The second wave of infections are starting to be felt, some governments are reaching for a new tool that many public health experts have been touting for months: stricter mask mandates.
In recent days, masks have become mandatory in all public spaces — indoors or outdoors — in Madrid, Greece, Portugal’s Madeira Islands and Hong Kong.
After many months of mixed messages around masks, President Trump has urged people to wear face masks.
After months of refusing to wear a mask in public, Trump finally did so on 11 July and has since claimed it is patriotic. “We’re asking everybody that when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask,” he said. “Get a mask, whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact. They’ll have an effect, and we need everything we can get.”
The secretary for Health in the UK, Matt Hancock, has indicated the law, making face masks mandatory in UK stores may stay in force until a vaccine is found for novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
“I expect that this law will be in place for the foreseeable future,” the health secretary said on Wednesday morning.
Asked by BBC Radio 4′s Today programme if that meant it could remain until next summer, Hancock said: “Well let’s see how well we do on getting a vaccine.”
Wearing masks in public is obligatory in many parts of the world during any health crisis, let alone a pandemic, however, is resistance around in other places.
Despite the clear scientific and medical evidence around the benefits, some political leaders insist it should be a personal choice.
President Trump on Saturday wore a dark mask affixed with the presidential seal in public for the first time, after repeated urging from aides that it was a necessary message to send to Americans resistant to covering their faces.
On 5 June 2020, WHO published updated guidance on the use of face masks for control of COVID-19. This guidance is based on evolving evidence and provides updated advice on who should wear a mask when it should be worn and what it should be made of.
World Health Organization updates guidelines on Masks.
Notably in areas with widespread infection:
All people working in clinical areas should wear medical masks
People over 60 years of age or with underlying conditions should wear a medical mask
Governments should encourage the general public to wear masks where physical distancing is difficult, such as on public transport.
First-Res has FDA, CE and PMDA certified masks available to ship, factory direct. (3 ply, 5 play, medical masks, surgical masks, N95, KN95, FFP2 NR, etc)
Except from todays WHO announcement, here is what’s new:
In areas with the widespread transmission, WHO advises medical masks for all people working in clinical areas of a health facility, not only workers dealing with patients with COVID-19.
That means, for example, that when a doctor is doing a ward round on the cardiology or palliative care units where there are no confirmed COVID-19 patients, they should still wear a medical mask.
Second, in areas with community transmission, we advise that people aged 60 years or over, or those with underlying conditions, should wear a medical mask in situations where physical distancing is not possible.
Third, WHO has also updated its guidance on the use of masks by the general public in areas with community transmission.
In light of evolving evidence, WHO advises that governments should encourage the general public to wear masks where there is widespread transmission and physical distancing is difficult, such as on public transport, in shops or in other confined or crowded environments.
Our updated guidance contains new information on the composition of fabric masks, based on academic research requested by WHO. Based on this new research, WHO advises that fabric masks should consist of at least three layers of a different material. Details of which materials we recommend for each layer are in the guidelines.
Protective face masks are classified as PPE in the EU and are subject to the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2016/425 and performance tests according to EN 149:2001+A1:2009.
The Chinese counterpart is GB 2626-2019, but it is not equivalent to EN 149: 2001 + A1: 20019, so what is the difference between the two?
