A health expert reminded those individuals who have flu-like symptoms to use surgical masks to prevent them from spreading viruses to other people.
“Kahit wala pong nCoV (novel coronavirus)…parang awa n’yo na kung may sakit po kayo, mag-mask po kayo. Ang kailangan gamitin ay ‘yung surgical mask and laging blue side out,” said Dr. Edsel Salvana, director of University of the Philippines Manila’s Institute of Molecular Biology.
Salvana said that the individual’s nose and mouth should be covered by the surgical mask.
He also reminded the public to observe proper disposal of surgical masks and avoid touching its front part, adding that after disposing of it – they should wash their hands.
Salvana also noted that cloth masks will not help in protecting its users from the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD).
“Yung cloth mask po hindi po s’ya gumagana kasi wala po s’yang filter. So akala n’yo po protektado kayo hindi pala,” he said.
The health expert also said that n95 masks should be reserved for health workers who are dealing with patients.
“Yung n95 mask po ang gumagamit lang po n’yan doktor dahil kailangan po iyan i-fit nang maayos. Pag binili n’yo lahat ng n95 sa merkado wala nang magagamit ang mga doktor na tumitingin ng pasyente,” said Salvana. (Analou de Vera)
