How to Wear Face Masks Rightly to Prevent COVID-19?
There are still many people who wear face masks wrongly, whether in a circle of friends or in real life. Recently, in response to the misunderstanding of ordinary citizens wearing masks, Liu Meng, a nurse from the International Medical Department of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, and Liu Shunying, a supervisor nurse, conducted a detailed review, which is very helpful for everyone to wear a mask correctly.
Misunderstanding 1: As long as it is a mask, it can play a role in preventing pneumonia caused by COVID-19 infection.
Answer: Not all masks can play a role in preventing infections, such as paper masks, activated carbon masks, cotton masks, sponge masks, etc., because the material is not dense enough, the prevention effect is limited, it is not recommended to wear. It is generally recommended that citizens wear disposable medical surgical masks or N95 masks.
Misunderstanding 2: Some citizens think that the current epidemic is serious and must wear N95 masks to effectively prevent infection
Answer: If ordinary citizens go to public places and do not come into contact with patients, it is enough to wear medical surgical masks without over protection. However, if you go to a high-risk place such as a hospital or directly contact a patient, you should wear a higher-protection N95 mask.
Misunderstanding 3: You can wear a mask directly without washing your hands
Answer: If you wear a mask without washing your hands, it will contaminate the mask and increase the chance of infection. The correct approach is to wash your hands in strict accordance with the seven-step hand-washing method before wearing the mask, and then wipe your hands before wearing to avoid getting the mask wet. At the same time, pay attention to avoid touching the inside of the mask with your hands during wearing.
Misunderstanding four: wearing a mask at will can work
Answer: If you don’t wear the mask according to the correct method, it will not play a good preventive role. If you are wearing a disposable medical surgical mask, the correct method should be to clearly distinguish the inside, outside, top and bottom of the mask. The metal strip with the nose clip inside is above, while the light side of the mask is the inside and the dark side is the outside. Wearing a mask should ensure that the dark side is facing outwards, pressing the metal strips on both sides of the bridge of the nose with both hands to make the mask close to the bridge of the nose, and then stretching the mask down so that the mask does not leave wrinkles and cover the nose and mouth tightly. Note that you must try to make the mask and face have a good adhesion. The simple test method is: after putting on the mask, exhale hard, and the air cannot leak out from the edge of the mask.
Myth # 5: The mask does not need to be replaced and can be worn all the time
Answer: The disposable medical mask is generally valid for 4 hours. If it exceeds the time, it will not play a protective role. You should avoid wearing the mask repeatedly. It should be replaced regularly. It should be noted that after the mask is wet or contaminated with blood or body fluids, a new clean and dry mask should be replaced in time.
Myth # 6: To prevent infection, N95 masks can be worn all day long
Answer: If you wear the N95 mask for a long time all day, it will affect facial blood circulation, even cause pressure ulcers, and reduce local resistance. It is recommended that the continuous wearing of N95 masks should be controlled within 4 hours.
Myth # 7: Wear several more masks to better prevent COVID-19 infections
Answer: It is enough to wear a mask. Wearing three or four layers of masks will make you breathless, because the air cannot enter the nasal cavity from the front, but only from the side, but it does not have the protective effect.
Misunderstanding 8: When not using a mask, you can directly stuff it into your pocket or bag
Answer: It is not recommended to take it off and stuff it directly into a pocket or bag. This may easily cause secondary pollution of the medical mask. When the medical mask is not in use, it should be folded and stored in a zip lock bag.
Misunderstanding 9: People wearing glasses wear masks, and exhaled glasses are prone to fogging, so some people choose not to wear masks
Answer: At present, the epidemic is serious. If you do n’t wear a mask, it will increase the chance of infection and seriously affect your safety. Therefore, people who wear glasses also need to wear a mask. For the prevention of fogging of masks and glasses, you can try some tips. For example, the universal e-commerce platform can buy anti-fog glasses cloth. In addition, you can also try to stick the iron wire on the mask when wearing a disposable mask. Squeeze the nose tightly, lift it up a little bit, and then put the glasses on top of the mask. This can effectively prevent the glasses from fogging when wearing a mask.
Myth # 10: After taking off the mask, you don’t have to wash your hands again
Answer: The process of removing the mask may contaminate your hands. Take care not to touch the outside of the mask when removing the mask. Wash your hands with soap or alcohol immediately after removing the mask.
