‘Everyone Should Wear Masks In Public’: WHO Changes Advice

Subscribe to our new Telegram channel for the latest stories and updates.

In addition to social distancing guidelines such as maintaining a 1m distance and washing hands frequently, the World Health Organization (WHO) also recommended wearing medical grade masks- but only for people who were sick and showing symptoms. The unaffected population would not need to wear masks in public.

Now, the WHO has changed their guidelines to say that everyone, regardless of symptoms, should be wearing a mask in public.

New information, such as asymptomatic patients, or increase of infectious droplets prior to symptoms, has urged the WHO to look into additional protective barriers for the common person.

New guidelines on the WHO website shows proper usage of face masks, including fabric masks and medical-grade masks.

This is because many people globally have taken to making and wearing non-medical grade fabric masks when medical mask supply fell short.

Fabric masks are often made with cloth and does not have a filter like the medical-grade masks.
(Credit: Freepik)

Homemade cloth masks are not supposed to replace medical-grade masks. However, any covering in general can help lessen the spread of airborne particles.

Of course, a face mask is not a magical armor that will render you invulnerable from Covid-19. The usage of face masks, fabric or not, must be used in conjunction with other social distancing tools like maintaining a physical distance and frequent handwashing.

For those who have a high risk of coming into contact with Covid-19, such as healthcare workers, it is still recommended to wear a medical-grade face mask for your personal safety.