Coronavirus: Not necessary for everyone to wear mask – Health Service
The rush for face masks in Ghana as coronavirus spreads across the world is premature, the Ghana Health Service has said.
The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kumah Aboagye, told Starr FM he would not advise that everyone wore the mask everywhere.
“I’ll not recommend that everyone should wear a mask. It’s not easily accessible now, but there are some in town, and people are getting them. I don’t believe it’s time for everybody to wear some. It depends on the environment you’re going into, you may want to wear one.”
Although Ghana is yet to record a coronavirus case, there appears to be panic buying of the masks, as some Ghanaians take proactive steps to to protect themselves by wearing a protective mask
But Dr Kumah Aboagye said the kind of mask some Ghanaians wore was not suitable to protect them against the disease.
“Some pharmacies are stocking them, but the ordinary surgical mask people are wearing does not provide the kind of protection people think it will. There are specialised masks people have to wear,” he said in the interview, monitored by theghanareport.com.
Meanwhile, US Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, made a similar appeal in the United States, where the mask is reportedly disappearing fast in pharmacies.
His message posted to Twitter on Saturday was a response to face mask shortages as people stocked up due to coronavirus concerns.
Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!
They 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!
https://t.co/UxZRwxxKL9— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) February 29, 2020
Formally known as COVID-19, the virus has so far infected over 89,000 people across 58 countries.
Italy, the centre of the outbreak in Europe, has so far recorded 1,694 cases whiles France has 130 cases of infected persons.
Countries such as the Czech Republic, Scotland and the Dominican Republic have confirmed their first cases.
In West Africa, Nigeria recorded its first coronavirus case on February 25. In Ghana, 15 cases tested so far tested