Masks are not something that you can wear and automatically get protection against the Wuhan virus.
This was a reminder by Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong at a news conference on Thursday (Jan 30), in the wake of signs of panic buying of surgical masks in Singapore.
More than five million masks released to retailers were “snapped up in hours” each time a batch of these were put up for sale over the past nine days, said Mr Wong, who is co-chair of the multi-ministry task force tackling the spread of the Wuhan virus here.
“Medical experts have highlighted that sometimes wearing a mask or wearing it wrongly can give you a false sense of security. You wear it wrongly, it may not be effective,” he said.
“Worse, if you wear it and you still use your hands to touch your face constantly, it doesn’t help at all because there is more likelihood that the virus can spread through contact and through your hands.”
So, who should wear a mask and what is the proper way to wear it, should you need one?
