“Seriously, people: stop buying masks!” Three reasons not to use them against the coronavirus

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

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

–

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) do not recommend that healthy people wear masks to prevent any type of respiratory disease, including coronavirus and influenza.

If you are a healthy person, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care To an infected person. Otherwise, we present the three reasons why you should consider other measures to prevent such diseases.

1. Masks do not prevent contagion

If you are not a health worker, it is highly likely that don’t know how to register a mask This, instead of protecting it, increases the risk of contracting the disease.

“People who don’t know how to use them properly tend to touch their faces a lot and can actually increase the spread of the coronavirus,” Dr. Jerome Adams told the Fox & Friends program.

Only sick people they should wear masks because they serve to prevent the spread of the virus, not to prevent a healthy person from contracting it. The coronavirus is transmitted through the drops of saliva; If a sick person wears the mask, it will prevent these drops from spreading to surfaces or in the air.

Instead, they are useless for healthy people, since the masks are designed to prevent the drops from coming out, but not entering.

“The only time you would want a mask is if you are sick and have to leave home,” Dr. Elin Perencevich told Forbes. “If you have the flu or think you have COVID, it is when you wear a mask to protect others. In your home, if you feel that you are sick, you should wear a mask to protect your family members. ”

2. They make it harder for those who need them to get them

Demand for masks in the United States has grown due to hysteria caused by the coronavirus, which has also caused price growth, according to CNN. The term “N95 mask” has been searched more than 862,000 times in the last 30 days, and the package price of 100 masks, which was usually $ 8, is now $ 200.

Despite the price increase, the masks are flying from the stores.

Dr. Peter Hotez warned CNN that the mask shortages may be the most destabilizing part of the epidemic, since it puts the medical staff in need at high risk to care for infected patients.

“We need to make sure those N95 masks are available for doctors and nurses that will take care of people who have this disease, ”said Robert Redfield, director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, during a hearing in the Foreign Affairs Chamber.

3. To kill the virus, water and soap

The best strategy to avoid contagion is the frequent hand washing for 20 seconds Hands should be washed before and after eating, every time you cough and sneeze and when you clean your nose.

Even if you buy a mask, its effectiveness will be null if you do not follow the instructions for handwashing and touch your eyes, nose and mouth with dirty hands, according to the World Health Organization.

– .