The World Health Organization is expanding its guidelines for the use of facemasks during the ongoing global health crisis and disclosed on Friday it is now advising people to wear fabric masks in areas where the virus is spreading and when social-distancing protocols are not possible, like in mass transport and in public stores.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that people over 60 years old or with existing health issues must also wear facemasks in places where social distance is not observed. The WHO had initially suggested that only medical professionals, people infected with the disease, and their caregivers should wear medical facemasks, citing a global supply shortage.
Michael Ryan, an infectious disease epidemiologist and executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said at a WHO press conference on June 3 that the WHO still believes that facemasks should be worn mainly for source control purposes, meaning for those who may be infectious, minimizing the possibility they will pass the virus to other people.
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO lead technical expert on COVID-19, disclosed to Reuters that the new guideline was for people to wear a fabric mask, that is, a non-medical mask. Fabric masks, according to WHO, should be made up of at least three layers of different materials in order to be more effective.
On Friday, as part of the new guideline, Ghebreyesus offered a few words of caution: Masks can also create a false sense of safety, leading people to neglect protocols like proper handwashing and physical distancing. "Masks alone will not protect you against COVID-19," he said, as quoted by Lois Parshley of Vox.
There have been 6.6 million confirmed cases of the dreaded disease and almost 400,000 fatalities since the outbreak began late in 2019, data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University showed.
The new recommendation follows studies supported by WHO into what type of mask could be most effective against the virus in the community. It is still not determined whether the wearers are fully protected, experts said, but the new facemask design that it advocates does give protection to other people if properly used.
Other medical agencies, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have urged for some time the wearing of face coverings to reduce the spread of the disease. British health experts disclosed this week that masks would be mandatory on subways and other public transportation.
WHO infection control expert April Baller said one of the reasons for the new guideline on facemasks was the growing proof that COVID-19 can be spread before symptoms may even show.
