The chief public health officer of Canada states that wearing a non-medical face mask can help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Canadians can use non-medical face masks in tandem with social distancing measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when doing errands such as shopping for groceries or buying supplies at the pharmacy.
The recommendation represents an about-face for the public health officer – who until now has resisted the idea of non-healthcare professionals wearing masks.
Using a non-medical face mask is an extra measure that you can take to protect others around you. Although wearing one will not necessarily protect the person wearing it.
A non-medical face mask can lessen the chances of your respiratory droplets coming in contact with others or landing on surfaces. The chief public health officer has long maintained that masks should be reserved for the sick as well as healthcare professionals working in hospitals to preserve the dwindling stockpiles of personal protective equipment.
Recently, the chief public health officials stated that wear a face mask serves as an additional layer of protection that can prevent pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic people from inadvertently infecting others with COVID-19. The policy change comes as a response to the emerging information from the science and medical community.
For more information about this story, click here.
LEARN MORE
Learn how to stay safe by enrolling in a mask fitting test which is a requirement for many workplaces and school admissions or the available masks for sale by visiting our face mask sale page.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200504-coronavirus-what-is-the-best-kind-of-face-mask
https://www.livescience.com/are-face-masks-effective-reducing-coronavirus-spread.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover.html