By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, June 19: At this point in the pandemic, no one denies that face masks are an essential safety measure against COVID-19. Health experts have been advocating for their use for months and more than 50 countries have made it mandatory for their citizens to cover their faces when going out in public.
On June 5, the World Health Organisation (WHO) also advised people to wear masks in situations where social distancing is not possible citing “new information that showed they could provide a barrier for potentially infectious droplets."
However, there is confusion among people about exactly what type of mask to wear. Bhola Magar is a construction contractor and he wears a cloth mask while going out to work. But he isn’t sure if it is doing any good.
“I hear that we need a KN95 mask to be fully protected and they need to be changed regularly. I don’t think I can afford that,” he said.
Dr. Sameer Mani Dixit, director of research at the Centre for Molecular Dynamics Nepal, explained that the purpose of a mask was to prevent potentially infected droplets from going out into the atmosphere, so any mask that properly covered the nose and the mouth was acceptable.
“Masks can’t absolutely shield against the coronavirus but as long as they prevent droplet infection, they should be good,” he said.
In addition to the type of mask, people also do not have a clear idea of how to use them, or rather, how to reuse them. Many people keep on washing and reusing the same mask again and again. Rosie Banskota, a saleswoman, is one such person.
“I wash and dry my mask every day so that it is clean every time I reuse it,” she said.
According to Dr Dixit, such reusing of masks can be done, but one must be careful as to what type of masks they are reusing. “Surgical masks cannot be reused at all. They must be disposed of after one use,” he elucidated. “Cloth masks can be reused but they need to be washed with detergent and dried.”
Dixit also recommended people to carry two masks with them if they needed to be out for a prolonged period of time such as when at work. “It is best to carry two masks so that if the first mask becomes dirty or drenched with sweat, they can take it off and put on the second mask.”
He also urged people to carry a sanitizer, wash hands with soap and water whenever possible and strictly follow social distancing.