Wash cloth nose masks purchased before usage, FDA advises public

Delese Mimi Darko, chief executive officer of the Foods and Drugs Authority has advised the general public to wash cloth nose masks they purchase before usage.

Speaking in an interview with Nana Yaa Mensah on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Thursday, the FDA CEO is still carrying out regular surveillance to ensure the market is not flooded with substandard nose masks.

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We are still manufacturing the cloth masks; we still check the quality of the mask, so occasionally we do what we call market surveillance and there is actually one on at the moment.  Sometimes the manufacturer or the country will not know, but we sample mask from every region and the laboratories will go ahead and check,”

The FDA boss added “If it is a cloth mask, I will always say again that please when you buy it, don’t put it on immediately, I will advise that you wash it sanitise or disinfect it before you use it and make sure it is of the right quality.”

She also said the Foods and Drugs Authority has intensified education for those selling nose masks to ensure they handle it properly.

We have intensified the education for people selling the masks, we always have the buyer beware, we have been going round the market educating people…. even I when am driving and I see masks I actually look at it and then I tell the person who is selling the mask about the dos and don’ts,” she added.

The FDA boss advised the public to ensure cloth nose masks they purchase has three layers and is of a high quality.

42 percent now wearing nose masks

Meanwhile the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has commended the public for wearing their nose masks in the open after its latest survey reveals an increase of 42%.

The director-general of GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, told journalists on Tuesday (2 February) in Accra that this is a remarkable improvement in their previous survey in October last year which saw only 10% of the public wearing nose masks.

The survey also reveals the number of people not wearing the mask correctly has decreased from 72 to 36%.

“So, the good news is that about 42% of our people are now wearing masks appropriately, 36% were not wearing it at all, with about 22% not wearing masks at all and 26% were not wearing it correctly,” Dr Kuma-Aboagye said.

Source: Ghextractives.com