Dr Asiedu Bekoe, the Head of Surveillance, Ghana Health Service, has advised Ghanaians against the use of face shields as an alternative to face masks.
He said face shields should only be used as a face leverage to make communication better but for addressing the challenge of an infection such as COVID-19, the first point of call should be the wearing of face masks.
Dr Bekoe said this at the Ministry of Information’s media briefing to provide an update on COVID-19 case count and case management in the country.
He said the use of face mask was very important because it prevented the virus from coming into contact with any part of the body (eyes, nose and mouth) that could lead to an infection.
Dr. Bekoe said for this reason, “If you want to use a face shield it must be used together with a face mask and not as an alternative for the use of a mask.”
“It is not for convenience sake that we are replacing face mask with face shield but to prevent an infection,” he added, stressing that face mask was the surest way of preventing oneself from getting COVID-19.
“This, therefore, means that we can only address the disease by nonpharmaceutical intervention and this is the only way to prevent an infection,” Dr. Bekoe said.
GNA
