The measure – widely supported by authorities in other countries – would be another means of protection, but it must be accompanied by a series of precautions, warned in an interview with the newspaper RN 1, from InterTv RN, the infectious disease doctor from the Anita Garibaldi Center for Education and Health Research, at the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD), Carolina Damásio. The interview was broadcast live this Monday (06).
According to the infectious disease specialist, it is necessary to sanitize your hands when putting on and after taking off the mask. But that's not all. Each mask, she says – in agreement with the Ministry of Health – should only be used for up to two hours. “Ideally, everyone should leave with a spare in their bag, because if they are going to be wearing it for more than 2 hours, it should be changed.”
The mask must be double-sided, cover the nose and mouth, and be put on and taken off by the elastic, without touching the fabric – “to avoid contamination”. It must be used individually. In other words, it cannot be borrowed. “If your husband goes to the supermarket, you can’t say ‘take mine’. Then it becomes a risk instead of protection”.
Use and washing
According to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, masks should be worn whenever a person needs to leave the house. The CDC, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommends wearing them in public places where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g. supermarkets and pharmacies).
After use, the mask should be washed with soap and water. “It should also be soaked in bleach for 20 minutes, in a ratio of 1 liter of water to 4 teaspoons of bleach,” the doctor teaches. “Even if it fades, the important thing is to keep it clean.” After washing, it should be dried in the sun – without forgetting, says the specialist, to wash your hands and avoid crowds. “Because the mask alone will not solve the problem. The mask is just one more thing we can do,” she reinforces.
ISD is a Social Organization linked to the Ministry of Education.
Text: Renata Moura / Ascom – ISD
Images: InterTV
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Santos Dumont Institute (ISD)
Social organization that maintains ties with the Ministry of Education (MEC) and whose mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research and extension actions and to contribute to a fairer and more humane transformation of the Brazilian social reality.
