By Tony O’Riley-
Wearing masks does not prevent one from contracting Covid-19. Head Of EU Agency, Dr Ammon told a virtual meeting of Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety that masks was just an additional tool and a further control in preventing the virus from spreading.
Aamon told a conference yesterday that there are “different kinds” of masks, including surgical ones used in hospitals and those used in the “community”, largely designed to protect others from infection. She questioned the evidence on how much wearing a mask can contribute to preventing infection spreading, adding, “Certainly, masks cannot be used as a sole measure in restricting the spread of coronavirus and limiting transmission.
They should only be seen as an additional tool and a further control in preventing the virus from spreading, she said.” “Masks cannot be used as a sole measure in restricting the spread of Coronavirus and limiting transmission. They should only be seen as an additional tool and a further control in preventing the virus from spreading”
“It [mask wearing] should be seen in the context of a set of other measures, for example, hand washing and social distancing.”A report from a multidisciplinary group convened by the Royal Society called Delve – Data Evaluation and Learning for Viral Epidemics advocates the wearing of face masks after conducting an analysis into it.
Face masks can reduce viral shedding into the environment from both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Both commercially available and homemade cloth masks and surgical masks can play a role.
Face masks may play an important role in situations where social distancing is not possible or unpredictable. These situations include public transport, stores and shopping areas, work places, within households, clinics, hospitals, care-homes, social care, and busy pavements. If used widely and correctly and on a risk basis, face masks, including homemade cloth masks, can reduce viral transmission: benefits of use increase where risk exposure is high and are marginal where its low
The ECDC’s latest risk assessment is examining ways to limit transmission of the virus on public transport.Dr Ammon also revealed that Bulgaria was now the only EU country where the infection was still on the rise. There were four other countries in Europe – Romania, Poland, Sweden and the UK – where there had been “no change” in recent days.
“All other EU countries have now seen a substantial decrease,” she said. Overall, there has been some 3.5m cases worldwide, with 250,000 deaths. In the EU and UK there has been, so far, 1.1m cases and 130,000 deaths.
She added, “It is now clear that a high number of care homes have been severely affected.”.She added, “The stay-at-home policies and social distancing have reduced the transmission overall by 45 percent compared with what it was on April 8.”
“It now appears to have passed its peak with a decline in most EU countries, but all Member States must continue to do several things to maintain this.” She highlighted other necessary measures including contact tracing and ensuring there is sufficient healthcare capacity in case of a “new surge.” She said, “We must also identity best practice and, finally, engage with the public in explaining all these strategies.” Speaking of managing people’s expectations, she said:
“I know you have heard this before, but this is a marathon, not a sprint so we must be able to manage peoples’ expectations of the continuing impact this will have on their lives.”
“People need to know that this is not going to end any time soon and they need to prepare for that reality.”
She added, “We must not drop our guard and must continue to maintain high standards of hygiene and social distancing. People need to be constantly reminded that this will not go away as long as we don’t have a vaccine.” “We must not drop our guard and must continue to maintain high standards of hygiene and social distancing. People need to be constantly reminded that this will not go away as long as we don’t have a vaccine” Dr Andrea Ammon, ECDC Director .
Silver Bullet
She told the committee any tracing app was not a “silver bullet” but “just a tool that can facilitate and compliment contact tracing.” The use of an app, she stressed, would need to follow the EU data protection regulation “because public trust needs to be maintained.”
“We must also ensure that data is not misused and that the app can work across borders.”Dr Ammon also said “urgent clarification” was needed on the efficacy of antibody tests.The official told deputies it was “not clear” if other diseases recently contracted by children were linked to the virus, adding, “we are working with clinicians trying to find out if and how these cases are linked.
“We have this issue on our radar.”
“After this crisis ends we, at EU level, should also look at how things can be improved, such as digitised and electronic surveillance systems. But this will all cost money.”