A day after the Covid-19 death toll crossed the 10,000 mark, the government on Saturday started a Nepal Mask Campaign with the slogan, “I will wear a mask and encourage others to wear one too.”
“We would like to request all people throughout the country to own the programme and wear masks compulsorily and properly as this is the only way to lessen the risk of infection and avoid passing the virus to others,” said Dr Radhika Thapaliya, director at the National Health Education Information and Communication Centre.
“Every citizen has some responsibility towards the country and during the pandemic by wearing the face mask properly, we can fulfill the responsibility.”
Although it is a scientifically established fact that wearing face masks, either surgical or those made of cloth, reduces transmissions of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, authorities seem to have just realised the need to launch a campaign.
“This kind of campaign could have been launched from day one and it would be less costly,” Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of Clinical Research Unit at the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, told the Post.
Studies suggest that some countries where the use of face masks by the general public is high have experienced significantly lower rates of Covid-19 spread and associated deaths.
The World Health Organisation has said that although the use of masks alone is not sufficient to provide adequate level of protection against Covid-19, masks should be used as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress transmission and save lives.