A top doctor in the United States has made a clarion call―stop buying face masks. US Surgeon General Dr Jerome Adams has posted a message on Twitter asking Americans to stop buying face masks as they are not effective in preventing coronavirus.
Adams said that the sudden frenzy to buy these masks will lead to a shortage for healthcare providers, which in turn will put communities at risk.
Washing your hands, staying home when sick and other “everyday preventive actions” are the best protections, Adams said. He urged people to get a flu shot, as fewer flu patients means more resources to fight the coronavirus.
The best way to protect yourself and your community is with everyday preventive actions, like staying home when you are sick and washing hands with soap and water, to help slow the spread of respiratory illness.
— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) February 29, 2020
Get your #FluShot- fewer flu patients = more resources for#COVID19
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had last month said that it didn’t recommend the use of face masks. Incidentally, it had made the recommendation the very day the first case of person-to-person transmission of coronavirus was reported in the US.
Medical shops in the US have reported a huge deficit in the availability of face masks as people have depleted the stock over coronavirus fear.
Adams also said that people who aren’t comfortable wearing a mask would often touch their face more frequently and adjust the mask and this would actually increase the risk of exposure to flu or coronavirus.
