If there are confirmed cases of the coronavirus in your community, you should wear a fabric face mask when you are out in public spaces where social distancing is impossible, per an update from the World Health Organization on Friday.
In the June 5 press briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom also announced revised guidelines on who should be wearing medical facemasks in communities where there are confirmed cases of the coronavirus, as well as overcrowded spaces including stores, buses, trains, and planes.
The WHO now recommends medical face masks to everyone who has underlying health conditions or is over 60 years old in spaces where social distancing is difficult or impossible.
Additionally, Adhanom said all healthcare workers in communities with widespread transmission should be wearing medical face masks.
“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,” Adhanom said in the briefing.
Previously, the WHO recommended that only healthcare workers, people infected with the coronavirus, and their caregivers wear medical masks.
Following the briefing, Adhanom tweeted the new guidelines.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus✔@DrTedros
Today @WHO has updated its guidance on who should wear a mask, when it should be worn and what it should be made of based on evolving evidence: https://bit.ly/3dCGAvP #COVID193,8748:30 PM – Jun 5, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy3,159 people are talking about this
Adhanom also repeated that masks alone do not protect people from the coronavirus in the briefing.
“I wish to be very clear that the guidance we are publishing today is an update of what we have been saying for months: that masks should only ever be used as part of a comprehensive strategy in the fight against COVID,” Adhanom said.
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