Hand Gloves, Carefree Usage Of Face Masks Put Nigerians At Risk – Doctor

The Doctor in charge of Ajibulu Sample Collection Centre, Oshodi, Lagos, Baqiah Nojimudeen-Yesufu, has revealed that the abuse of gloves and usage of face masks may increase the risk of contracting Coronavirus.

Nojimudeen-Yesufu during an interview with Daily Post further stated that wearing gloves is not advisable as it encourages you to touch many things that you should not touch.

Although she informed that there has been about 70 per cent level of compliance by the residents with the mandatory usage of face mask, especially since the lockdown was eased, she emphasized that significant caution must be shown while putting on the mask in order to avoid contracting the virus unknowingly.

“Since the lockdown ease commenced, people have been complying with the use of face masks and I can say the compliance is about 70 per cent. However, we should be careful about self-contamination because sometimes we wear the mask and use it wrongly. Even if you have washed it, you still have to be careful not to touch the outer part and the inner part where your nose and your mouth stay because you can self-contaminate yourself.”

She added that “If you wear one for a whole day, it is best to wash it at the end of the day. You wash and iron. It is advisable that you have, at least, one per day so you can always interchange, to use one for each day. It is important we do not merely stop at washing them, we need to iron them, as well, if there is any leftover bacterial infection on the face mask, the heat can also help to kill any bacteria or virus after washing.”

“For those who are using the disposable mask, it should be thrown away after every usage; meaning if you have the mask on for a whole day and you have to remove it for any reason; you are removing and discarding to wear a new one in order to avoid self-contamination.”

The doctor further stated that the face mask is best used when in a crowded environment, she noted that the best way to stay away from risk is to stay indoors.

She said: “It is advisable if we can actually stay and work from home. If possible, let us make use of that avenue because the rate of community transmission is alarming. And the number of people that are already available for testing makes it difficult to actually get test results on time.”

“The best thing for us to do is to stay safe, even if the government has said we can go out, we should weigh the risk.”

She added that it is not advisable to wear gloves “because if people wear gloves they have the tendency and confidence to touch many things as much as possible, and in doing that, they can infect so many other people with their gloves.”

“It is always advisable that we wash our hands from time to time. Wearing of hand gloves by non-professionals actually increases the risk of contamination than reducing it because you might be protecting your own hands but it is at the detriment of others who are not wearing hand gloves and in that manner, you are increasing the risk of infection. It is best to always wash your hands and use the sanitizer at all times.”