‘Coronavirus outbreak can be stopped if 80 pc population wears masks’

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 31

Marking a major shift in strategy from the existing rules on masks, a government guidance on masks on Tuesday said once 80 per cent of population wears masks outbreak of coronavirus can be stopped immediately. 

However, as per ICMR, non-sick people need not wear masks as of now. Current Health Ministry guidelines clearly state healthy people don’t need masks, social distancing better strategy to prevent COVID spread.

The detailed manual on homemade masks: “Masks for Curbing the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus” issued by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister says “analyses show if 50% of the population were to wear masks, only 50% of the population would be infected by the virus. Once 80% of the population wears a mask, the outbreak can be stopped immediately”.

Quoting the World Health Organisation, the manual states that “masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water. If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly”.

On Principal Scientific Adviser’s manual on use of homemade masks, the Health Ministry says: “There is no current WHO guidance on use of homemade masks. Government is studying the issue of use of homemade masks and appropriate guidance will be issued in time.”

‘On Why Wear a Mask’, the manual says “COVID-19 virus spreads easily from person to person contact. Virus carrying droplets dry fast enough to form droplet nuclei and remain airborne eventually landing on different surfaces. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been detected in aerosols for up to three hours and on plastic and stainless steel surfaces for up to three days”.

The manual says that masks lower the chances of coronavirus entering the respiratory system through droplets still in the air from an infected person.

It says reducing the chances of inhaling the virus by wearing a protective mask that is cleaned thoroughly using a combination of approaches that use Heat, UV light, water, soap and alcohol, will be vital to stopping its spread.

The proposed guide is meant to provide a simple outline of best practices to make, use and reuse masks to enable NGOs and individuals to self-create such masks and accelerate widespread adoption of masks across India, according to the government statement.

The key criteria for proposed designs are Ease of Access to Materials, Easy of Making at Home, Ease of Use and Reuse. Wearing of masks is especially recommended for people living in densely populated areas across India.

Earlier in its update on Science, Technology and Innovation response to COVID-19, the PSA stated the Science and Technology Empowered Committee for COVID-19 response has rapidly worked towards implementation of scientific solutions. 

Actions are in place keeping in view the critical need to increase the testing facilities for COVID-19 include an office memorandum allowing institutes under DST, DBT, CSIR, DAE, DRDO and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to self-assess and prepare their labs for research and testing through the standard and rigorous protocol. 

Testing will be stratified according to priorities set by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and ICMR. Research will also be stratified into short and mid-term returns. The S&T Empowered Committee was constituted on March 19.

The committee is chaired by Prof. Vinod Paul, Member, NITI Aayog and Prof. K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, and is responsible for coordination amongst science agencies, scientists, industries and regulatory bodies, and to take speedy decisions on research and development to implementation related to the Sars-Cov-2 virus and the COVID-19 disease.