The health ministry on Tuesday said it is now framing guidelines on the use of home-made masks in India. The office of the principal scientific advisor to Prime Minister’s Office has issued a manual on homemade masks to curb the spread of Coronavirus or also known as COVID-19.
On Tuesday, K Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific advisor to the PMO took to social media and posted on Twitter, “Masks lower the chances of Coronavirus entering the respiratory system through droplets still in the air from an infected person, reducing the chances of inhaling the virus. Especially useful for people in densely populated areas.”
He advocated that homemade masks be used due to the scarcity of the commodity in such times. “Home-made masks are 70% effective and in combination with frequent handcleaning with soap and water or frequent hand rubbing with alcohol-based sanitiser,” he tweeted. These measures along with social distancing are being advocated as effective to combat the Corona virus’ spread.
As COVID-19 cases in the world soar, support for facemasks has started gathering steam around the world. America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention likely to change the official guideline. The CDC is considering recommending do-it-yourself cloth coverings.
Many experts in India also believe any mask is better protection than no mask at all. Dr SP Byotra, Department of Medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, “People should stay indoors. And social distancing is advised.”
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