'STOP BUYING MASKS' Say Doctors, Healthy People Don't Need Them To Protect Against Coronavirus

Coronaviurus scare has led people to run amuck and go around ODing on hand sanitizers and N95 face masks, which has led to shortage in the market, which in-turn has led to their prices skyrocketing. Pharmacists are charging outrageous amount of money for a bottle of sanitizer, or a basic mask and people have no option but to pay because most of us are under the impression that these are guaranteed precautions against the novel coronavirus.

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But do ALL OF US need masks for protection against COVID¡¯19?

Doctors around the world have answered - Nope. People need to stop panicking and hoarding on masks, only those who are actually sick should be using them.

Jerome M. Adams, U.S Surgeon General tweeted, ¡®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!¡¯

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

¡ª U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) February 29, 2020

One can take the most basic precautions and be safe from coronavirus, surgeon general wrote in another tweet, ¡®The best way to protect yourself and your community is with everyday preventive actions, like staying home when you are sick and washing hands with soap and water, to help slow the spread of respiratory illness¡¯.

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Dr. Michael J. Ryan, executive director of the health emergency program at the World Health Organization said, ¡°There are limits to how a mask can protect you from being infected. The most important thing everyone can do is wash your hands, keep your hands away from your face and observe very precise hygiene¡±.

Masks like N95 are important for infected people to prevent them from spreading germs. But if you are healthy then ¡°Not having a mask does not necessarily put you at any increased risk of contracting this disease,¡± says Dr. Ryan.

Reuters

Does this mean that masks are not effective AT ALL? No, it just means that general public does not need to as Dr. Ryan mentions that a, ¡®person is more likely to get infected by touching contaminated surfaces than from a droplet traveling through the air¡¯.

So, if you are healthy then you have no need to buy a mask at all, try to maintain hygiene and wash your hands regularly.