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Covid-19: Faceshields Can't Protect Mouth, Nose From Aerosols – College Of Surgeons

Health Covid-19: Faceshields Can't Protect Mouth, Nose From Aerosols – College Of Surgeons
JUL 16, 2020 LISTEN

The Ghana Chapter of the West African College of Surgeons and the Ghana Medical Association has joined calls against the use of face shields as a replacement for wearing a nose mask as protection for covid-19 infection.

Many people have resorted to wearing face shields as protection against COVID 19; a practice the two bodies say does not give the needed protection.

They also disabused the notion that the continuous wearing of nose masks decreases the blood oxygen concentration and builds up carbon dioxide.

Speaking to Citi News, the first Vice President and Country representative of the West African College of Surgeons, Professor Peter Donkor established the case that as medical practitioners, they wear face masks all the time in the course of their work with no side effects.

“It appears that many individuals including various prominent persons use the face shields alone without the mask. What we are saying is that the shield protects from splashes on the surface of the face but it does not protect the mouth and the nose from aerosols entering them. Those of us in the medical field who wear masks all the time as part of our work know that there is no evidence of anybody passing out as a result of mask-wearing. The general advice is that the face shield can be worn, but it should be worn with a mask as well, wearing a face shield is not a substitute for a mask. So to be adequately protected, we should wear the face shield with a mask.”

Following the increase in Ghana’s COVID-19 case count, government signed an Executive Instrument (E.I. 164) making the wearing of face coverings outside places of abode a mandatory requirement for all persons.

Regulation 1 of E.I. 164 requires a person to wear a face mask, face shield or any other face covering that covers the nose and mouth completely when that person is in a public place or leaving or returning to his place of abode.

---citinewsroom

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