{"id":250680,"date":"2020-03-31T20:57:29","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T00:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=250680"},"modified":"2020-04-01T19:36:34","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T23:36:34","slug":"should-you-wear-mask-in-public-if-not-sick-with-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/03\/31\/should-you-wear-mask-in-public-if-not-sick-with-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Should you wear mask in public if not sick with coronavirus?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Front-line health workers have the greatest need for masks. And when people are sick, wearing a\u00a0mask\u00a0helps lessen the chances of infecting others. In places where relatives care for the sick at home, the World Health Organization also has recommended they wear a\u00a0mask. (Pexels photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 If you’re not sick with the new coronavirus, should you wear a\u00a0mask\u00a0in public? Global health authorities say no. Amid a shortage of masks, the U.S. is sticking with that advice but Tuesday, President Donald Trump suggested people who are worried wear a scarf.<\/p>\n

That shortage is so severe that the Joint Commission, which accredits U.S. hospitals, said Tuesday that if facilities can’t provide proper masks, health workers are allowed to bring their own from home.<\/p>\n

Front-line health workers have the greatest need for masks. And when people are sick, wearing a\u00a0mask\u00a0helps lessen the chances of infecting others. In places where relatives care for the sick at home, the World Health Organization also has recommended they wear a\u00a0mask.<\/p>\n

But \u201cthere is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any particular benefit,\u201d Dr. Mike Ryan, the WHO’s epidemics chief, told reporters Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, there’s some evidence to suggest the opposite,\u201d he added, noting risks from an improperly fitted\u00a0mask\u00a0or touching the face while taking it off or putting it on.<\/p>\n

For months as the COVID-19 crisis grew and masks disappeared from store shelves, U.S. health officials have agreed. The virus is believed to spread mostly through droplets from coughs or sneezes, and thus the main advice has been to keep your distance \u2014 staying 6 feet away \u2014 in addition to frequent hand-washing and not touching your face. Health workers who may be doing procedures that generate tinier particles are supposed to get high priority for tight-fitting filtering masks.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeriously people – STOP BUYING MASKS!\u201d Surgeon General Jerome Adams wrote in a February 29 tweet. \u201cThey are not effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

But\u00a0mask-wearing has long been common in some countries during respiratory outbreaks, especially in parts of Asia. As questions grow about whether people sometimes can spread the virus before realizing they’re sick — which social distancing is supposed to address \u2014 increasingly people ask what it would hurt to wear some form of\u00a0mask\u00a0in public.<\/p>\n

Trump said Tuesday that his scientific advisers made clear the general public shouldn’t be competing with hospitals and health workers for scarce masks of any type.<\/p>\n

His solution: \u201cUse a scarf if you want,\u201d Trump said at the daily White House briefing. \u201cIt doesn’t have to be a\u00a0mask.\u00a0It’s not a bad idea at least for a period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, had told CNN that once there are enough masks, there might be \u201csome very serious consideration\u201d about broadening the\u00a0mask\u00a0recommendations.<\/p>\n

For now, the advice posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website: \u201cIf you are NOT sick: You do not need to wear a face\u00a0mask\u00a0unless you are caring for someone who is sick (and they are not able to wear a face\u00a0mask).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

AP reporter Mike Stobbe in New York contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 If you’re not sick with the new coronavirus, should you wear a\u00a0mask\u00a0in public? Global health authorities say no. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":249471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,54365,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-250680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","category-instagram","category-lifestyle","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250680"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250681,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250680\/revisions\/250681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}