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This Friday, WHO published updated guidance on the use of face masks to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus. In the June 5 press briefing, World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced revised guidelines on who should be wearing medical facemasks in communities where there are confirmed cases of COVID-19, as well as busy public places like general stores, public transports, and planes, etc.

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According to WHO officials, updated guidelines are based on evolving evidence. The organization has developed this guidance through a careful review of all available evidence, and extensive consultation with international experts and civil society groups. These guidelines provide updated advice on who should wear a mask, when it should be worn, and what its material and quality should be.

Director-General emphasized this already known fact that:

"Masks should only ever be used as part of a comprehensive strategy in the fight against the viral disease. Masks on their own will not protect you from COVID-19. "

Here are the revised guidelines:

>> First, in areas with widespread transmission, WHO advises medical masks for all people working in clinical areas of a health facility, not only workers dealing with patients with COVID-19. 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.

>> Second, in areas with community transmission, we advise that people aged 60 years or over, or those with underlying conditions, should wear a medical mask in situations where physical distancing is not possible.

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>> Third, WHO has also updated its guidance on the use of masks by the general public in areas with community transmission. In light of evolving evidence, WHO advises that governments should encourage the general public to wear masks where there is the widespread transmission and physical distancing is difficult, such as on public transport, in shops, or in other confined or crowded environments.

>> The organization's updated guidance contains new information on the composition of fabric masks, based on academic research requested by WHO. Based on this new research, the WHO advises that fabric masks should consist of at least three layers of a different material. Details of which materials we recommend for each layer are in the guidelines.

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WHO's recommendations also provide guidance on how to wash and maintain a fabric mask and explain how to use a mask safely. As people can potentially infect themselves if they use contaminated hands to adjust a mask or to repeatedly take it off and put it on, without cleaning hands in between. Masks can also create a false sense of security, leading people to neglect measures such as hand hygiene and physical distancing.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom further reiterated :

"Face masks are not a replacement for physical distancing, hand hygiene, and other public health measures. The cornerstone of the response in every country must be to find, isolate, test, and care for every case, and to trace and quarantine every contact. That is what we know works. That is every country’s best defense against COVID-19."

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