This new change has been made with the consultation of the health experts and evidences they got from COVID-19 patients. After careful review WHO announced this change in the guidelines. The WHO had not provided any guidance for or against the use of non-medical masks until the recommendations were released Friday, saying there was not enough scientific information to prove whether this amendments will be helpful. The new guideline suggests wearing cloth masks made from at least three layers of fabric “on public transit, in stores, or in any restricted or busy environments. It also says that people over 60 or with pre-existing conditions should wear medical masks in areas where coronavirus transmission and social distance is impossible in the community, and that all clinical workers should wear medical masks in areas with rampant transmission. Michael Ryan, an infectious disease epidemiologist and executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said at a press conference on June 3 that the “WHO still continues to believe masks should be used primarily for source control purposes. In other words, for people who are potentially infectious, the chances of infecting someone else are reduced. You just have to wear a mask if you care about a person with Covid-19 “or” if you’re coughing or sneezing”. Many health analysts have asked why it took the WHO too long to amend its mask recommendations, despite the collection of evidence showing they may be beneficial and have little downsides.
