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Since the coronavirus pandemic was announced in March, the benefits of face masks have been widely debated worldwide.
The World Health Organization has argued that wearing a face mask is not effective unless you have the disease, but despite this, several countries have encouraged the public to wear a mask while away from home.
Now, some of the UK’s top scientists have written a report, urging the UK government to enforce facial masks for the British.
The report, Data Assessment and Learning for Viral Epidemics (DELVE), produced by scientists at the Royal Society, suggests that the use of face masks could reduce transmission of the virus once measures of social distancing are lifted.
Venki Ramakrishnan, chairman of the DELVE committee, said: “While social distancing and hygiene maintenance, such as hand washing, are still vitally important in reducing transmission, the evidence shows that, if used widely and Correctly, face masks, including homemade clothing masks, can help reduce viral transmission in situations where social distancing is difficult to consistently maintain.
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“Such situations include busy public transportation, shopping, and other potentially crowded work or public spaces.”
The report highlights the fact that many Coronavirus patients show no symptoms, so they continue to come out normally, unknowingly transmitting the virus to others.
Sir Ramakrishnan explained: “Many people can have the virus before symptoms appear and some people will transmit it without even knowing it.
“Every time they cough, sneeze, speak, or even breathe, they are spreading drops containing the virus.
“Covering the face can reduce the risk of infecting others, but we emphasize that this is an additional tool to reduce the infection rate and not a replacement for hand washing and social distancing.”
While the group urges the government to enforce facial masks for the public, they stress that the priority must continue to be keeping the NHS and front-line workers safe.
Sir Ramakrishnan added: “The Government must take many factors into account when formulating policies and it remains essential that the NHS and other frontline workers who risk their lives on our behalf must have access to medical face masks.
“Our top priority should be to protect the NHS and care workers, so the public should not be in a rush to get surgical masks. However, scientific evidence shows that even homemade masks can help reduce the spread of the virus. “
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