The use of face mask will be mandatory in closed and busy places when the lockdown is lifted , Professor for Infectious Diseases and spokesman of Greece’s National Health Organization Sotiris Tsiodras announced on Monday.
Speaking at the daily briefing about the course of the coronavirus in the country, Tsiodras said that the committee of experts voted in majority that the use of masks will be mandatory.
The committee was clear, saying that there is a strong recommendation for the use of a mask, which is now mandatory in certain areas.
According to the committee, “should be used as a mandatory measure in public transport and other busy areas, such as hospitals, grocery stores, diagnostic laboratories, clinics, hairdressers, barbershops, beauty salons, and all closed and busy places.”
In all busy indoor areas the use of mask should be mandatory for both customers and employees in close contact with the public, such as salespeople and cashiers.
Once again, Tsiodras stressed that the mask gives the false sense of security and therefore it should be accompanied by its proper use, hand washing, use of antiseptic which should be in our pocket, keeping of safety distance and follow the rules when we wear it or remove it from our face.
“The mask is only adjunct to the possibility of transmission by asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic patients,” he underlined.
The gradual lifting of the measures is accompanied by a risk of recurrence of the disease circulation, he warned.
“This situation will not be interpreted as a return to normalcy. It’s a gradual transition, a very difficult stage, where we continue to be on lookout. ”
Scientists will continue to monitor the course of the coronavirus with special mathematical tools so that they can predict in time whether the removal of the measures is accompanied by a correspondingly good picture of the epidemiology of the virus in the community, Tsiodras added.
“We still avoid unnecessary movement, adhere to distance measures and avoid overcrowding. Any relaxation could be devastating. If we misjudge the facts, we will be driven very quickly from the limited circulation of the virus to a sudden rise and a second wave of the virus in our country,” Tsiodras stressed.
PS for one more time it is confirmed that when there is shortage of masks, their use “brings nothing” to the general population, but when masks are plenty their use is mandatory to “possibly protect from asymptomatic patients.”
Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotaksi will announce the roadmap of the lockdown lifting on Tuesday afternoon, April 28, 2020.
