Coronavirus: Health Ministry issues fresh set of guidelines on wearing masks

The highly transmissible pathogen extended its imprint to 125 cases in India on Tuesday. The exponentially increasing number have induced the central government to widen critical restriction by banning travel from the European Union, UK and Turkey.

The Ministry of Health also put out a fresh set of guidelines on wearing the masks, one of the most in demand commodity at this point of time.

As maintained by the guideline, everyone need not wear a mask.

Only wear a mask if:

* You have symptoms (cough, fever or difficulty in breathing)

* You are caring for a Covid-19 suspect/confirmed patient

* You are a health worker attending to patients with respiratory symptoms

The health ministry has also given the process on how to handle the mask.

While wearing a mask, make sure you:

* Unfold pleats of the mask; make sure that they are facing down

* Change the mask after six hours or as soon as it becomes wet

* Place the mask over your nose, mouth and chin and ensure there are no gaps on either side of the mask.             Adjust to fit.

* Never reuse disposable masks and dispose the used masks into closed bins after disinfecting them

* Avoid touching the mask while using it

* Do not touch the potentially contaminated outer surface of the mask while removing it

* Do not leave the mask hanging from the neck

* After removal of mask, clean your hands with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand rub disinfectant

This comes days after the government declared faces masks and hand sanitiser as essential commodities till the end of June in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus and to contain the overpricing of these products.

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