• Ricky V Tso and Benjamin J Cowling.
• Department of Psychology & Psychological Assessment and Clinical Research Unit, Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), China.
• Clin. Infect. Dis. 2020 Nov 19; 71 (16): 2195-2198.

AbstractConsiderable debates about the general community use of face masks for protection against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) stemmed out from differing views taken by health authorities. Misconceptions and stigmatization towards the use of face masks may hinder the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic. We address this previous debate by analyzing the advice on the community use of masks across different credible health authorities: countries that promoted the use of masks acknowledged that masks are effective but also explained the importance of their proper use along with other hygiene measures. In contrast, authorities that recommended against the community use of masks mainly cited shortage of supplies, the argument that the public do not have the adequate skills to wear them, or that wearing masks might reduce compliance with other important behaviors. We suggest promoting effective behavioral changes in personal protective measures by teaching microbiological knowledge instead of just listing out the "do's-and-don'ts."© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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