Too early to dispose of COVID face masks, however onus on public: Experts

By PTI

NEW DELHI: Even although some states have determined to cease penalising folks for not carrying masks as COVID-19 instances proceed to drop, healthcare consultants are of the opinon that it’s too early to utterly dispose of the restriction.

They have suggested folks to voluntarily masks up as a way to additionally keep protected against infections equivalent to influenza and swine-flu, other than coronavirus.

The Maharashtra and Delhi governments not too long ago determined to ease the restriction on the obligatory carrying of face masks in public, a norm that was in place for 2 years and its violation attracted a positive of Rs 2,000.

Reacting to the event, famend virologist T Jacob John mentioned for the reason that pandemic is “over” in India, the usage of masks is now not wanted to scale back the SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The masks mandate has lived its time and there’s no longer justification for its continuation as “mandate”.

But it’s a good suggestion to advertise the voluntary carrying of masks in public locations to scale back inhalation of mud and different respiratory transmitted brokers, together with TB bacilli, flu virus, different respiratory viruses like syncytial virus, adenovirus, widespread chilly viruses and so on, he mentioned.

“It is a habit that will reduce diseases. Currently, we see kidney transplant patients wearing masks; everyone will benefit — in buses, trains, aeroplanes etc,” John, the previous director of the Indian Council for Medical Research’s Centre of Advanced Research in Virology, informed PTI.

“My personal opinion is that there ought to be active promotion of mask-wearing in all hospital premises, in outpatient clinics and all queues and waiting areas. There I am not averse to even a mandate. For staff and patients, relatives, visitors etc,” John added.

Dr Ravi Shekhar Jha, Additional Director and Head of the Department – Pulmonology, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad, mentioned masks ought to proceed to be necessary and it’s untimely to surrender this behavior utterly.

“The disastrous second wave, that took many young lives across the world, was something that the modern world had not seen before. People had become a little complacent after the first wave and that probably lead to an unchecked rise in fatal cases. Though it is true that majority of susceptible Indians are vaccinated, what we must keep in mind is that vaccine doesn’t protect us against infection. Even if the infection is not fatal, it keeps you weak for many months,” he mentioned.

“We all know about the long COVID. Therefore, it is best to not get infected. So far, science has proved that masks are the only major contributors to preventing infection,” Jha informed PTI.

Another necessary consideration right here is that although COVID-19 has in all probability weakened, the nation noticed a discount within the variety of swine flu instances resulting from masks and sanitation practices. “Swine flu is more fatal than Covid and the combination called flurona can also be prevented by this. Therefore, in my opinion, masks must not be taken out of fashion…too early,” he famous.

Dr Akshay Budhraja, senior pulmonologist, Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital, mentioned it’s time to cease swinging between restriction and normalcy. “We must learn to live with coronavirus like the same way we live with other viruses such as influenza and adenovirus among others. Masks should not be mandatory for the general population, but recommended for those who are sick or who have any kind of immunosuppressive illness, visiting crowded closed places with poor ventilation or when visiting a healthcare facility like hospitals or clinics,” he mentioned.

“At the same time, we need to stay cautious and follow the latest recommendations which may change from time to time in the coming months, as per the statistics. Now that everyone is aware enough on when to wear a mask, we must take responsibility ourselves in coming times,” he mentioned.

Dr Arunesh Kumar, HOD & Senior Consultant, Pulmonology, Paras Hospitals, Gurugram, mentioned there was an increase in COVID-19 instances in west in addition to in China.

“Masking is the second-most effective intervention after vaccination when it comes to preventing new COVID infection. We are still not there with our double vaccine recipient numbers where herd immunity will be attained. New infections invite virus mutation. With a population as large as ours, it may prove a costly move as people will definitely find a reason not to put a mask on as a major deterrent has been removed,” he mentioned.

Advocating for unlocking however not unmasking, Kumar mentioned the masks has additionally proved helpful in stopping different infections like tuberculosis in addition to allergic issues from mud and pollen, “which is a big problem in Delhi-National Capital Region”.

“I urge people to consider masking up on a voluntary basis when out and about to help the country fight COVID infection effectively,” he added.