COVID-19: WHO releases new guidelines for face mask usage

The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated its guidance on facemasks amid the coronavirus pandemic.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, listed new precautions on Friday at virtual news conference.

WHO announced that non-medical fabric masks must have at least three layers of different materials.

The UN agency reminded that face masks must still be used in crowded situations even in areas where lockdown have been eased.

Ghebreyesus urged governments to encourage the general public “to wear masks where there is widespread transmission and physical distancing is difficult”.

He listed these as public transport, in shops or in other confined or crowded environments.

The WHO chief advised that in areas with community transmission, “people aged 60 years or over, or those with underlying conditions, should wear a medical mask in situations where physical distancing is not possible”

Ghebreyesus declared that “masks alone will not protect you from COVID-19”

To countries, he urged them 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 defence against COVID-19.”

The world has recorded 6.7 million cases of coronavirus and 395,000.