The Big Cover-Up

The health minister is urging us to wear masks in public, but what’s the best way to do so and how do you make your own?

- Lesego Seokwang

At first it seemed so foreign – so far away. We saw images of people in Wuhan, China, wearing face masks in a bid to protect themselves from the coronavirus but it didn’t seem like anything we’d ever have to do.

Fast forward just a few months and mask-wearing South Africans have become more the rule than the exception – and it’s safe to say we’re going to be wearing them for months to come.

But there’s been some confusion about masks. As the coronavirus pandemic dug in, experts dithered and differed. They were an excellent precaution, some said.

Useless, said others – you were more likely to trap in germs than avoid them. And besides, you were likely to fidget with your mask, which would lead to constant touching of your face.

Yet now ever yon e agrees – masks play a significant role in curbing the spread of Covid-19. Health minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize stressed this in one of his briefings – wear a mask in addition to fastidious hand washing and careful social distancing.

“We’re satisfied that there’s sufficient scientific evidence to show the cloth face mask significantly reduces the amount of virus that can be emitted,” he said in a recent public address.

Professor Heather Zar, chairperson of the department of paediatrics and child health at the University of Cape Town, says until recently it was common belief that only people who were sick or coughing could spread the virus. “We know now that this isn’t true. A lot of the infections are spread by people who are asymptomatic or in the period just before they get sick,” she adds.