People wearing masks walk past a restaurant in San Francisco, California, the United States. March 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
Face masks or face coverings should be worn anytime a person is outside of their home, even in offices of essential businesses, health officials in Southern California said.
LOS ANGELES, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Riverside County's health officials have recommended local residents cover their nose and mouth when leaving their homes for essential travel during the coronavirus outbreak.
According to a press release issued Tuesday, face coverings, which previously had not been endorsed by the authority, were described as "an extra layer of protection" in addition to staying home and social distancing orders.
Medical grade face masks, bandanas and fabric masks are all acceptable, and should be worn anytime a person is outside of their home, even in offices of essential businesses, according to the press release.
Cameron Kaiser, Riverside County's public health officer, was quoted as saying that the rulebook had to change as the numbers were increasing sooner than they had predicted.
"That means that flattening the curve requires another layer of aggressive protection against the virus. Please take the additional steps to cover your face," Board Chair V. Manuel Perez, Fourth District Supervisor, told local CBS news channel.
The report also said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines could soon change for other areas of the country as well and might ask more people to wear fabric masks when they are leaving the house.
Currently the CDC guidelines on its website still insist that most people do not need to wear masks and that the only people who need to wear a face mask are those who are sick or are caring for someone who is sick and unable to wear a mask.
A bus driver wearing a face mask is seen in Los Angeles, California, the United States, March 20, 2020. (Photo by Qian Weizhong/Xinhua)
Many experts argued that mask use by the general public can be useful to curb the spread of the virus that has killed over 4,300 people in the country.
During a two-day online seminar this week, hosted by the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) and the Chinese Association of Chest Physicians and supported by the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Los Angeles, medical experts in China told their U.S. counterparts that wearing masks at all time when in public is one of the successful steps to fight the disease.
Dr. Chris Carol, a professor of pediatric critical care at University of Connecticut Harford and head of the CHEST Critical Care Network, noted at the seminar that Chinese citizens seem to be much more willing to wear masks when in public than the Americans.
Medical experts believe that transmission of COVID-19 occurs primarily through droplets from an infected individual. Fabrics and face coverings filter these droplets and helps mitigate the spread of the virus.
Officials in Riverside County are not the only ones considering asking individuals to wear masks outside of their home, according to the CBS report. Sumanta Chaudhuri, chief medical officer at the Orange County Global Medical Center, also said this measure is really thinkable to reduce transmission. ■
