The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has advised the use of surgical face masks at home in suspected or confirmed cases of covid-19, to protect vulnerable individuals and prevent infections with the Ômicron variant.
“The use of a medical face mask or with a respirator should be considered for people with symptoms or with confirmed covid-19 and for people who share their family nucleus, especially when isolation of the person with symptoms or confirmed case is not possible. ”, recommends the ECDC.
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In a published report on the use of face masks in society in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 Ômicron variant of concern, the European country advisory agency points out that this form of protection “can help reduce the spread of covid-19 in the country”. community, reducing the release of respiratory droplets from asymptomatic, pre-symptomatic or mild non-specific symptomatic individuals”.
“The use of face masks for this purpose can be adopted to reduce the social impact associated with absence from work or health pressures due to infections or to protect vulnerable individuals in certain environments”, adds the European center.
According to the ECDC, in domestic environments, the use of a face mask “should also be considered as one of several possible measures, such as shops, supermarkets, transport hubs and on public transport”. For outdoor spaces, the European agency only advises face masks when “physical distancing is not possible”.
In care spaces, such as nursing homes, “face masks should be considered, to protect vulnerable people, such as the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions”, and should also be used by those who “interact regularly with this population”.
The ECDC warns, however, that “appropriate use of face masks is important”, which must “completely cover the face from the bridge of the nose to the chin”. As for the type of mask, the European center adds that the choice must take into account “access, availability and tolerability, in addition to effectiveness”, with medical ones “in general the most effective”.
The position comes at a time of high resurgence of cases of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, mainly due to the high transmissibility of the Ómicron variant. Covid-19 has caused at least 5,737,468 deaths worldwide since the beginning of the pandemic.
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