The World Health Organization recommends healthy people, including those who do not show symptoms of COVID-19, only wear a mask when treating someone infected with an infectious disease, very different from the advice given by American public health officials who recommend everyone wears a mask in public.
“If you don’t have repository symptoms such as fever, cough or runny nose, you don’t need to wear a mask,” Dr. April Baller, public health specialist for WHO, said in a video on the website of the world health agency. “Masks should only be used by health workers, caregivers or by people who are sick with symptoms of fever and cough.”
The recommendations differ from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which urges individuals to wear masks or face masks in public settings, regardless of infection or not, to limit the spread of the virus.
“We now know of Current research that most people with coronavirus have no symptoms (‘asymptomatic’) and even those who eventually develop symptoms (‘pre-symptoms’) can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms,’ said the CDC mask guidelines. “In light of this new evidence, the CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public places where other social distance measures are difficult to maintain.”
Baller noted that masks can give people a “false feeling of protection” and noted that sick people must wear them to prevent transmission of the virus to others.
Message to WHO from Fox News was not immediately returned.
The CDC recommended last month that people wear non-surgical face masks when going out in public places after previously advising only health workers and people who show symptoms to do so. New learn shows that wearing a mask can cut COVID-19 cases up to 80 percent if people heed the advice.
“Universal masking at 80 [percent] adopting leveling curves is significantly more than maintaining tight locking, “wrote a group of international researchers in the study, which had not been reviewed by colleagues.
The authors note that countries and regions – Macau, Beijing, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan – with a history of wearing masks have seen a large reduction in the number of cases of corona virus after reaching its peak.
A separate study released earlier this month divided scientists about the effectiveness of wearing a mask.
Fox News, Chris Ciaccia contributed to this report.
