New Delhi- Keeping in mind that India is the second worst coronavirus-affected nation in the world with the cases of the deadly infectious virus skyrocketing and spiraling out of control with every passing day, the centre on Monday requested the people to wear masks even at homes.
This caution from the centre comes as the new variants of the coronavirus not only spread through respiratory droplets but also remain suspended in the air in the form of aerosol. It is even more quickly transmissible than the first wave of the novel coronavirus.
The head of the COVID-19 task force in India Dr. VK Paul advised people to wear masks even inside their home premises in order to break the chain of transmission.
During the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare press briefing on the COVID scenario, Dr. VK Paul who is also a member of health (Niti Aayog) advised people to be at home, not invite anyone over and not step out unnecessarily.
"If there is Covid positive case in the family, it is very important that the person wears a mask even indoors because the virus can spread to others in the home. I would rather go on to say that the time has come that we start wearing a mask at home even otherwise," said Dr. Paul. "The person who is infected must wear it, but even others must do it when sitting with other family members at home. The infected person should be isolated in a separate room," he added.
Another reason attributed to the reason of wearing masks within home premises is that a large population infected by the coronavirus does not show symptoms therefore, these people can accelerate the spread of the deadly infectious disease at their homes.
The data from a study conducted by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Service revealed that the transmission of the virus is negligible when the distance between the two people are a minimum of six feet provided both of them are wearing masks. According to the data, the risk of transmission is the least (1.5%) when both people are wearing masks, medium (5%) when only the infected person is wearing the mask, high (30%) when the infected person is not wearing a mask but the uninfected person is wearing one, and the highest (90%) when both the infected and uninfected person is not wearing the mask.
Meanwhile, India on Monday reported 3.23 lakh fresh COVID-19 cases taking the total caseload of the country to over 1.76 crores. 2,771 COVID-induced deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours with the total death toll now amounting to over 1.97 lakhs. There are over 28.74 lakh active cases of the novel coronavirus in the country. However, India finally saw a downward spiral in the number of COVID-19 cases with 8.4% fewer cases than the previous day. It is the sixth consecutive day that over 3 lakh cases have been reported in the country.