"Mased Modes" in the West and East
Fearing that medical masks do not have enough medical workers, the World Health Organization on April 3 issued recommendations for all countries, according to which medical masks should only be sick and doctors. From this point on, the country was divided into those who listened to WHO recommendations, and on those who, contrary to these recommendations, introduced the mandatory wearing masks in public places - the so-called "mask mode".
As the peculiarities of the new coronavirus are studied, it became clear that the recommendation of wearing masks "only with obvious patients" is erroneous, as it became known, the incubation period from the moment of infection is 5-14 days, and some of this time a person is a pedigree of infection. A little later, it turned out that more than 50% of those infected at all do not have symptoms, while they can infect air-droplets by other people and surfaces in public places (goods and shelves in stores, handrails in transport, etc.).
In early April, in the top 10 countries on the increase in the number of new cases included exclusively the countries in which protective masks were not obligatory to wear in public places. Moreover, the same list included not only large countries, but also small states of Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland.
As a result, the WHO position was susceptible to tough criticism, first of all, from Chinese infectious doctors. Many specialists in China believe that the lack of the requirements of the quarantine wearing masks by citizens and caused such huge scales with coronavirus infection in Europe and in the United States. So in an interview with journalists of the journal "Science", the Director General of the Chinese Center for Control and Prevention of Diseases, George Gao, said that the "largest mistake of Europe and the United States" is the lack of tough quarantine measures and the necessity of total wearing medical masks by all residents of the country.
Western countries still decided to go on the "Chinese version" and began to enter "mask modes".
In Italy, during the rank of the epidemic, the power has negatively related to the decisions on the mandatory wearing masks. So, Lombardy, most affected by Coronavirus, has nevertheless introduced a decree, however, a month after the beginning of the epidemic, April 6th. In accordance with the decree, residents of the region must necessarily "defend themselves and others, closing the nose and mouth using masks or through ordinary shines and scarves."
In the United States, in the Centers for the Control and Prevention of Diseases (the Federal Agency of the Ministry of Health), they also came to the conclusion that during quarantine masks should be worn. And not necessarily medical, suitable from any materials, the main thing is to cover the face (Face Covering). Exit to the street without protective masks in the US is prohibited from mid-April.
From April 27, in Germany, wearing a mask when leaving the street became mandatory in all × 16 federal lands.
France, ordered its citizens to wear transport masks from May 11th.
Similarly, Spain and Spain, obligation to use protective masks on transport from May 4th.
Of the largest countries in Europe, the "mask mode" has not yet been introduced in the UK.
Countries that remove or prepare to weaken quarantine measures, "mask mode" remain in force, including both alternative to tougher measures (France, Spain).
It is noteworthy that the first in Europe weakened by Quarantine Czech Republic (April 24), it is the first and introduced "mask mode" on March 18. Mandatory wearing masks there remains in force.
Many specialists in China believe that the lack of the requirements of the quarantine wearing masks by citizens and caused such huge scales of infection with coronavirus infection in Europe and in the United States
Photo: unsplash.com.
Attitude towards masks in Russia
The opinions of officials and legislators changed from the diligent following the guidelines of WHO ("Masks for Doctors") to the gradual recognition of these recommendations not enough and transition to the principle of "Masks are mandatory for all".
One of the first publicly spoke by Governor of the Ulyanovsk region Sergey Morozov: "I think that it is necessary to introduce for all the obligatory wearing masks in public places! Today, we have already tried it out. "," I am sure that it is this requirement in China, where for the lack of mask was punished very cruelly, allowed to stop the spread of the virus. "
On April 17, Rospotrebnadzor issued a list of recommendations, one of whose items sounded like this: "When leaving the house, it is necessary to use a mask closing the respiratory tract." New recommendations completely contradicted the previous concept.
From mid-April, the regions began to introduce the obligatory wearing of protective masks in public places (transport, shops, crowded streets, etc.). The specifies use not only respirators and medical masks, but also any similar: homemade, reusable and rag masks.
In Moscow and the Moscow region, since May 12, "mask" regime was also introduced, but gloves were added to the masks - without these means of protection in public places and transportation will be fined.
Misconception about masks
In public consciousness there are 3 basic prejudices against protective masks, briefly consider them.
Miscending 1: Masks do not protect against the virus
Let's give the floor to the head of the microbiology of latent infections of the Institute. Gamaley, Viktor Zueva: "The idea of the mask is aimed at the implementation of the main thing - to interrupt the transfer of the pathogen from man to man. And this happens when conversation. Someone asked something, someone sneezed, someone coughed. From the mouth of a person fly Slavy splashes. Masks from this and protect. They are not against the virus. They are against saliva, infected with the virus.
Error 2: masks should be strictly medical, otherwise they do not work
We will not refer to numerous tests that demonstrate that rag masks are perfectly suitable, of course, not to work in the infectious compartment, but to protect others from a potential patient, which has such a mask in public places. Take for example quarantine in China. To provide masks at least every 3rd Chinese, it would take 500 million medical masks per day, this is if not to take into account the recommendations to change such masks every 2 hours. At the moment when the epidemic began, such a number was from the category of fiction even for the "global factory". China saved the Asian tradition to wear reusable rag masks in the shrouded-free cities, such masks were almost everyone, and they were mostly they were on the faces of China's citizens during the epidemic. As can be seen by country of Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, etc.), such masks are perfectly suitable for preventing the spread of infection from patients to healthy - provided that they are all.
Mailing 3: Masks are needed only by sick
The word to another virologist, head of the Arbovirus department of virology them. D. I. Ivanovsky, Alexander Butenko: "The masks need to be used to not distribute the infection, because people are carriers, not knowing what they are sick. Coronavirus can be sick without symptoms. Therefore, with such a development of events in the world, those who still want to keep health, no matter whether a person is sick or not, it is worthwhile to wear a medical mask. "