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29.04.2020 Opinion

Nose Mask Alone Does Not Protect Us From COVID-19

By Noel Darkwah
Nose Mask Alone Does Not Protect Us From COVID-19
29.04.2020 LISTEN

It is a good initiative by the President to admonish all Ghanaians to wear nose masks whenever they go out, because the covid-19 is known to spread through droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and face mask serves as a barrier, which can prevent these droplets from reaching one's nose, mouth, etc..

However, there is a problem and if attention is not paid to it might turn into a disaster for us. In as much as the nose masks offer some sort of protection from the covid, it is not a sure way of protection from the virus. We must note that some frontline health workers who wear these nose masks on a regular and add other personal protective equipment have contracted the virus and died from it. This suggests to us that wearing of nose masks alone cannot protect us from contracting the virus.

Obviously, these frontline health workers who fell prey to the virus, washed their hands and use their hand sanitizers regularly but somehow, they still contracted the virus. We need to note that with all the preventive measures stipulated by the World Health organization, frontline health workers adhere to all but one. Social distancing is the only safety measure frontline health workers cannot fully adhere to due to the nature of their work in caring for covid-19 patients.

Therefore, we cannot just rely on nose masks as a sure means of protection from the virus but we need to pay attention and observe religiously all the safety measures put in place especially social distancing, as it seems paramount to the other measures.

Ghanaians have all of a sudden forgotten about all the other safety measures and feel safe only in face masks. Some have stopped washing their hands regularly, stopped using their hand sanitizers often and it's easy to spot people gathered in large numbers conversing.

Ghanaians need to realize that face masks alone cannot protect us from contracting the virus and if we do not adhere to the other safety measures especially social distancing, we would record a lot of community-based spread which would be detrimental.

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