The Director of Health Promotion at the Ghana Health Service, Dr Dacosta Aboagye, has cautioned the public against the improper use and disposal of nose masks.
He said while the use of nose masks had become a preventive measure against COVID-19, “nose masks must be worn correctly, changed frequently, removed properly, disposed of safely and used in combination with good universal hygiene behaviour in order for them to be effective.”
Dr Aboagye made the assertion in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday. He said if used wrongly, nose masks could prove to be counterproductive.
He was concerned that even though people had heard about the nose mask and had resorted to its use, regrettably, not much attention was paid to the correct use of the protective item, thereby increasing their possibility of becoming exposed to the disease.
He said some of the wrong ways of using a nose mask included touching it intermittedly while it was on one’s face and the mask not fitting as tightly as it was supposed to be.
Besides, some people often dropped the mask to the chin or left it hanging around the neck while they took some moments of relief.
Dr Aboagye said any wrong use of the nose mask increased one’s vulnerability and defeated the objective for which the mask was put on in the first place since the virus was transmitted through droplets from coughs and sneezes of infected persons and on few occasions from droplets when talking.
source: Graphi online
