Health chiefs insist there is NO NEED for ‘well people’ to wear face masks – despite US officials advising ALL Americans to wear them when they are outside
- Mr Hancock said UK was still advising health people not to wear the face masks
- Comes despite US dramatically switching its stance on mask wearing overnight
- It now advises all Americans make their own if they can’t get access to real mask
- World Health Organization (WHO) also said to be switching its stance on masks
Health chiefs today insisted ‘well’ Britons do not need to wear face masks amid the coronavirus crisis – despite US officials set to advise exactly the opposite.
England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam claimed wearing masks was ‘wired into’ some Asian cultures.
But he ruled that there was no evidence masks helped stop the spread of the deadly infection, which has now killed 3,605 Britons.
England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam claimed wearing masks was ‘wired into’ some Asian cultures
The UK Government has long held the view that the cheap paper masks offer little protection against catching COVID-19. Passengers on the London Underground wear them on Thursday
Shoppers wearing face masks queue to enter Sainsbury’s supermarket on Ladbroke Grove in West London on Wednesday
In tonight’s Downing Street press conference, Professor Van-Tam added: ‘We do not recommend face masks for general wearing by the public.’
Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning also said that the evidence on masks being useless had been ‘very clear from the start’.
The US Centers for for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dramatically switched its stance overnight and is now advising all Americans to wear them.
President Trump announced at his Friday press briefing that the Centers for Disease Control was now recommending that Americans wear non-medical cloth masks – but pressed that it wasn’t a mandate.
‘So it’s voluntary, you don’t have to be doing it,’ the president said from the briefing room podium. ‘This is voluntary, I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.’
Minutes later, first lady Melania Trump tweeted that Americans should take mask-wearing seriously.
President Trump said the CDC would put out a recommendation that Americans wear masks – but said it was voluntary and he would not be doing it
‘As the weekend approaches I ask that everyone take social distancing & wearing a mask/face covering seriously,’ she tweeted from her FLOTUS account. ‘#COVID19 is a virus that can spread to anyone – we can stop this together.’
But the president suggested it might make him look foolish as he communicated with world leaders.
‘I’m feeling good,’ Trump said when asked why he wouldn’t sport face-wear. ‘Somehow sitting in the Oval Office, sitting behind that beautiful Resolute Desk, the great Resolute Desk, I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don’t know, I just don’t see it for myself,’ Trump said.
For days, top experts, including members of Trump’s coronavirus taskforce said they were debating whether or not to put out a mask recommendation.
The president urged Americans not to wear medical-grade masks and instead could make masks from fabric at home
One concern is that Americans not working in the medical field would scoop up masks needed to protect doctors, nurses, first responders and others on the front lines.
For days, Trump suggested that Americans could simply wear scarves to get by.
But on Friday he said the CDC was putting out the new recommendation for masks.
‘From recent studies we know that transmissions from individuals without symptoms is playing a more signifcant role in the spread of the virus than previously understood, so you don’t seem to have symptoms and it still gets transferred,’ the president explained.
‘In light of these studies the CDC is advising the sue of non-medical cloth face covering as an additional voluntary public health measure,’ he said.
The president suggested cloth or fabric masks that could be ordered online or made at home.
They should also be able to be washed.
‘I want to emphasize that the CDC is not recommending the use of medical grade or surgical grade masks and we want that to be used for our great medical people that are working so hard and doing some job,’ the president said.
Minutes after Trump said he would not personally be wearing a mask, first lady Melania Trump sent out a tweet saying that Americans should take the CDC recommendations seriously
The first lady sent a Friday evening tweet telling Americans to ‘take social distancing & wearing a mask/face covering seriously’
The World Health Organization (WHO) – which does not recommend healthy people wear them – is also said to be reconsidering its guidance on masks.
The British Government says surgical masks are too thin, loose-fitting and porous, which make it easy for the tiny viral particles to pass through.
But experts have always maintained that, while the masks may not shield someone from contracting the illness, they stop the wearer from infecting others.
This may have been more important than initially thought now that researchers know infected people are contagious for several days before they have symptoms.
The virus can be transmitted via droplets that are released when a patient talks, breathes, coughs or sneezes.
Donald Trump’s administration is encouraging all Americans to wear cloth masks or other face coverings if they go out in public
But Health Secretary Matt Hancock today said the UK would not change its approach because he claims there is little evidence to show the masks help, and they would be better used by healthcare workers and patients who test positive
South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong have issued millions of masks to their people and managed to prevent full-scale outbreaks, despite being in such close proximity to China. Critics say masks don’t work because China still suffered more than 80,000 cases
Professor Van-Tam told the public: ‘There is no evidence that general wearing of face masks by the public who are well affects the spread of the disease in our society.
‘In terms of the hard evidence and what the UK Government recommends, we do not recommend face masks for general wearing by the public.’
Speaking on Good Morning today about changing the advice, Mr Hancock said: ‘I haven’t been advised that we should do that.
‘I’ll follow the scientific advice on that, which was very clear when we went through it at the start.
‘Masks are very important to protect healthcare workers who might have a lot of incoming virus but that (public being advised to wear face masks) isn’t something that we’ve done here.
How to make your own coronavirus face mask: Online DIY tutorials detail method for vacuum cleaner bag or T-shirt to create protection that leading scientists say is effective against bug
People around the world have been using scarves as makeshift masks (like this woman in Lisbon) because they can’t get access to them
Other have resorted to crafting masks out of household items. A man is seen using a nappy as a makeshift face mask in Brooklyn, New York City
‘We’ve followed the advice and we’ve followed the medical and scientific advice and the whole basis of our response has been making sure that we follow the science.’
When Professor John Newton, director of public health improvement for Public Health England, was quizzed about masks on the radio this morning he said they were ‘very helpful’ in hospital.
But he questioned their efficacy for every day use. He said the Government would ‘wait to see how the science evolves’.
Professor Ian Jones, a virologist from the University of Reading, told MailOnline the mass-issuing of masks ‘should now be considered’ by health bosses in the UK.
Warning that the crisis is spiralling rapidly, he added: ‘Anything that reduces the rate of transmission will bring it under control sooner.’
Dr Stephen Griffin, associate professor of infection and immunity at the University of Leeds, said masks prevent people with no symptoms spreading the disease by catching tiny droplets they exhale.
He added: ‘They are also useful for people that are themselves symptomatic in stopping coughs and sneezes.
‘They also reduce the propensity for people to touch their faces, which happens many more times a day than we all realise and is a major source of infection without proper hand hygiene.’
South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong have issued millions of masks to their people and managed to prevent large outbreaks, despite being in such close proximity to China.
George Gao, director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, this week said the ‘big mistake’ in the US and Europe was that ‘people aren’t wearing masks’.
He told Science magazine: ‘This virus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. Droplets play a very important role – you’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth.
‘Many people have asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others.’
The new policy marks a profound change in messaging as both the CDC and World Health Organization previously said people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick.
Health officials believe wearing masks would reduce the risk of people not showing symptoms from spreading the virus.
Dr Deborah Birx, who coordinates the day-to-day administration response to the virus for the US Government, cautioned people should not consider masks as a guarantee of protection.
‘We don’t want people to feel like I’m wearing a mask, I am protected, and I’m protecting others. You may be protecting others, but don’t get a false sense of security that that mask is protecting you exclusively from getting infected because they were other ways that you can get infected because the number of asymptomatic and mild cases that are out there,’ she said at the White House briefing.
Lord Alan Sugar has been blasted after posting a photo of makeshift coronavirus masks made out of coffee filters, elastic bands and staples
She advised people to continue social distancing practices and to wash their hands. The new guidance will make it clear that N95 surgical masks should be saved for health care workers and others on the front lines, who have been in dire need of them.
Simple cloth masks – or scarves or bandannas – will be the recommendation for when people go to the grocery store, for a walk or are outside.
‘In light of these new data, along with evidence of widespread transmission in communities across the country, CDC recommends the community use of cloth masks as an additional public health measure people can take to prevent the spread of virus to those around them,’ according to a copy of the guidance obtained by The Washington Post.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned all New Yorkers on Thursday that they should cover their mouth and nose with a homemade cloth mask when they go outside, even if they are healthy, if they can’t access a mask.
Speaking during his daily press conference on the city’s coronavirus response, the mayor revealed that new evidence has suggested that face coverings may prevent the spread of the coronavirus but added he did not regret delaying the order.
De Blasio warned that most New Yorkers should craft their own face covering using cloth, a scarf or a bandanna, leaving face masks for medical staff and others working on the front line.
He also said that he had spoken with President Donald Trump earlier on Thursday, calling for a national enlistment to be established for medical professionals, or anyone with medical training at all, that would deploy even civilians to the major outbreak hotspots.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) is mulling a decision to recommend healthy people to wear the masks if they can.
Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that New Yorkers should now cover their mouth and and nose if they leave their homes after new evidence suggests that asymptotic carriers may be leading to more spread of the coronavirus in the community than was previously thought
Not all masks are created equal: Single-use masks and surgical masks have larger pores which the coronavirus can easily slip through. A more expensive N95 mask is the gold standard for healthcare workers fighting infectious diseases
A recent study found that coughs and sneezes can spread virus particles up to 27ft (8m) in a cloud around an infected patient.
The WHO currently does not recommend that people without the illness wear face masks because there is little evidence they help and they would be better used by healthcare workers and patients who test positive.
But it might be about to change its mind, according to a former infectious disease director at the organisation.
Professor David Heymann, now an in-house expert at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the WHO was reopening its discussions about masks today.
He said officials could decide to advise people that masks are beneficial – but people would have to wear ones with a proper seal around the nose and wear them all the time.
Professor Heymann said: ‘There is right now a debate about the usefulness of masks because Hong Kong has provided some evidence that masks may be useful in protecting individuals from infection. It’s not clear yet whether or not that’s true.
‘WHO, the group that I work with, is debating that with a group of experts around the world tomorrow, to understand whether there is evidence which would call for a change in what WHO is recommending now for masks.
‘[What is recommends] is that they really don’t have a major role in protecting people from infection except in healthcare workers where they also wear eye protection and they also have a role from protecting others from coughs or sneezing.’
The World Health Organization has a list of recommendations for safely wearing and removing masks to avoid the risk of infection
The current official guidance from the CDC (above) urges people who are healthy to avoid using masks due to the ongoing shortage for doctors and nurses. The UK’s Department of Health recommends the same thing
He added: ‘But as the evidence becomes available, it seems there will be a debate trying to decide whether masks play a role at some point in the outbreak.
‘And believe me, if they do, there is a private sector healthy enough to begin producing those masks in quantities necessary.’
He made the comments in a briefing at British think-tank Chatham House in London yesterday.
The WHO currently says healthy people only ought to wear a mask if they’re looking after a COVID-19 patient, or if they are coughing and sneezing themselves.
The coronavirus is thought only to spread through close contact with others – defined as being within 6’6′ (2m) of someone.
But a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston found that infected patients can create a cloud of virus particles around them with coughs and sneezes.
This can stretch out up to 27ft (8m) and could carry enough of the virus to infect someone, the researchers said.
Droplets from people’s lungs could also linger in the air and be blown about, they added.
The study – from one of the US’s most prestigious universities and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) – was done in lab conditions rather than the real world.
But it could change the way health authorities look at protective equipment like masks, which are currently being stockpiled for health workers.
In France, for example, the government banned wholesalers from selling masks to the public so it could save them for medical staff.
Although scientists say the vast majority of masks do not have fine enough filters to stop viruses getting through, there is a growing school of thought that they could be useful.
Even if they don’t stop viruses in their tracks they could redirect air flow which might be carrying them into people’s mouths or noses.
A smaller initial dose of the virus has been linked to less severe symptoms in some coronavirus patients.
How to make your own coronavirus face mask: Online DIY tutorials detail method for vacuum cleaner bag or T-shirt to create protection that leading scientists say is effective against bug
The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has led to a shortage of protective face masks, leading to a deluge of online tutorials ion how to make your own using a t-shirt or pillowcase.
Homemade masks offer significantly less protection than the N95 medical masks, which are made of a thick, tightly woven material that fits over the face and can stop 95 per cent of all airborne particles.
Public Health England still does not recommend Britons wear face masks, unless in a medical setting.
But there are good reasons to think DIY masks could be effective in tackling the pandemic, as they have been widely used in Hong Kong,Mongolia and South Korea -countries that largely have the disease under control.
The World Health Organisation also currently does not recommend that people without the illness wear face masks, but it could be about to reverse its decision due to evidence from Hong Kong that they may be effective in fighting the virus.
And in a further sign that attitudes about masks are changing, LA’s mayor, Eric Garcetti, yesterday told all four million of the city’s residents that they must wear face masks at all times to slow the spread of the deadly pandemic.
MailOnline has investigated how you can make your own face mask using everyday household items such as a t-shirt, kitchen towel or vacuum bags.
How to make a face mask from a t-shirt
A YouTube tutorial by Runa Ray shows how to make a face mask without any need for sewing, using just a plain t-shirt.
First of all you need scissors, pencil and a ruler, and a t-shirt you don’t mind being used to make a face mask.
Cut out a 16′ by 4′ rectangle from the middle of the t-shirt, then fold it in half, and measure four inches on either side.
Then mark the t-shirt with an even number of tassels on each side and use scissors to cut them.
Turn the t-shirt inside out and separate the corner tassels, but tie the remaining ones in-between.
Then with the remaining t-shirt material cut some ear straps using the hem of the shirt.
Attach the straps to the remaining outer tassels and you have yourself a face mask, with no sewing involved, and using an old t-shirt.
A slightly more complicated method has been perfected by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh also managed to design a face mask that could be used if ‘commercial masks’ are not available during a virus outbreak.
A woman wearing a mask walks past a closed shop window display during the pandemic lockdown in Manchester
They used a regular cotton t-shirt, which was boiled for 10 minutes and then air-dried to sterilise the material, but also to shrink it.
The researchers used a marker and ruler to measure out what they wanted to cut and then formed the mask using an outer layer and then eight inner layers covering the nose and mouth.
The mask does not require any sewing, and instead involves it being tied multiple time around the face.
How to make a face mask from vacuum cleaner bags
By following the simple steps in the graphic, you can create your own face mask from a T-Shirt or vacuum cleaner bag,
Even UK politicians have got in on the act, with Gillian Martin, who is MSP for Aberdeenshire East, describing how she made a face mask from vacuum cleaner bags and elastic.
She told the Daily Record: ‘I live in a small village and have been here for over 20 years. I don’t want to worry or offend people when I go out.
‘I started researching what other countries have been doing and came across a chart with the best materials to use to make a mask out of just about anything.’
‘Just below medical material was a hoover bag. I have loads of them lying around and found Hepa-Flow bag that just goes on your Henry hoover’.
The chart the MSP is referring to from a University of Cambridge study which shows the materials that work the best against virus sized particles.
The top three are a surgical mask, vacuum cleaner bag and tea towel.
She added: ‘I cut it up the bag and secured it with elastic. I live with my family of three who have all been self-isolating so I made one for each of us’.
Gillian Martin posted about her mask that she made from a vacuum cleaning bag
‘I made it because I’m nervous of people coming up to me when I’m out walking the dog. I don’t want to have to run away from them.’
Another popular YouTube method shows how to fold up a scarf, using hair ties at either end, to make a simple and easy no-sew mask. The same method can be used with a handkerchief and doesn’t involve any sewing.
How to make a face mask from kitchen towel
For this you need two layers of kitchen towel and one of tissue.
You cut it in half, and then use masking tape on each end to ensure the mask is stiff.
Then you punch holes through either end of the mask and thread elastic bands through the holes.
Some Japanese women have even been posting instructions about how to make a face mask from a bra.
The method is simple and involves cutting off one cup with scissors and then sewing the bra straps on, so they can be attached to your face.
Do masks have to be complex to be effective?
The idea that masks do not have to be complex to be effective does have some support from recently published studies.
A University of Oxford study published this week concluded that surgical masks are just as effective at preventing respiratory infections as N95 masks for doctors, nurses and other health care workers.
It’s too early for there to be reliable data on how well they prevent infection with COVID-19, but the study found the thinner, cheaper masks do work in flu outbreaks.
Two elderly women wearing protective face masks walk in Westminster on Wednesday
The difference between surgical or face masks and N95 masks lies in the size of particles that can – and more importantly, can’t – get though the materials.
N95 respirators are made of thick, tightly woven and molded material that fits tightly over the face and can stop 95 percent of all airborne particles, while surgical masks are thinner, fit more loosely, and more porous.
This makes surgical masks much more comfortable to breathe and work in, but less effective at stopping small particles from entering your mouth and nose.
Droplets of saliva and mucous from coughs and sneezes are very small, and viral particles themselves are particularly tiny – in fact, they’re about 20-times smaller than bacteria.