By Karen Bong
KUCHING, April 24: Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng is looking into enforcing face shield on top of face mask as double protection for certain sectors of economy possibly by next week.
Even though he has yet to identify the sectors, Wee emphasised that double layer protection is important for those with jobs that placed them at greater risk of exposure to Covid-19.
“That’s why you can see workers in high-risk places such as hospitals, clinics and pharmacies all wear face shields on top of face masks.
“For instance in pharmacies, the workers will come in contact with people who have sickness whether it is cough, fever or sore throat. Face masks may be sufficient but a face shield will provide double protection,” he shared during his Facebook live session with the community today.
This matter was taken into consideration following Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) taking the lead to introduce face shield and hand gloves for traders in essential services particularly related to food chain supply as well as food stalls handlers operating at night markets.
Stressing the importance of wearing a face mask which MBKS strictly enforced in its headquarters, Wee pointed out that it was evident in lowering the risk of being infected.
Showing a chart, he explained that an uninfected person with a mask still has a high chance of being infected when in close contact with an asymptomatic Covid-19 carrier.
“There is still a medium chance to be infected in the situation where an asymptomatic carrier wears a mask and a healthy person does not.
“The chances of infection are low when both the carrier and healthy person wear masks and the chances are even lower when both observe physical distancing of six feet apart,” he said.
Wee thus reiterated the advice for people to keep their face masks on at all times especially when in public places to protect themselves as well as their loved ones, colleagues and friends. — DayakDaily
