When And How To Wear Mask Properly During COVID-19?

How To Wear Mask Properly
(Last Updated On: December 2, 2022)

Masks are a key measure to suppress transmission of COVID-19. Do you know when and how to wear a mask properly to avoid spreading COVID-19 and also to get maximum protection? As you know wearing a face mask helps prevent the spread of COVID-19, but only if worn properly, covering both your nose and mouth. This article and the video from health experts explaining mask-wearing tips to get the maximum protection for yourself and others.

How To Wear Mask Properly During COVID-19?

Medical masks are recommended for:

  • Health workers in clinical settings. See WHO guidance for more information on the use of personal protective equipment by health care workers.
  • Anyone who is feeling unwell, including people with mild symptoms of COVID-19, such as muscle aches, slight cough, sore throat or fatigue.
  • Anyone who has tested positive or awaiting COVID-19 test results.
  • Caretakers for someone who is a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 outside of health facilities.
  • Wear When a visitor comes to your home who is not a member of the household.

Read Home Care For COVID19 Patients And Precautions

Medical masks are also recommended for the following groups because they are at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 and dying:

  • People aged 60 or over.
  • People of any age with underlying health conditions, including chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, immunocompromised patients and diabetes mellitus.

How to wear mask properly?

  • Before touching the mask, clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
  • Inspect the mask for tears or holes, do not use a mask that is damaged.
  • Adjust the mask to cover your mouth, nose, and chin, leaving no gaps on the sides.
  • Place the straps behind your head or ears. Do not cross the straps because this can cause gaps on the side of your face.
  • Avoid touching the mask while wearing it. If you touch it, clean your hands.
  • Change your mask if it gets dirty or wet.

How to take off a mask

  • Clean your hands before taking off the mask.
  • Take off the mask by removing it from the ear loops, without touching the front of the mask.
  • If you plan to reuse it, put it in a clean plastic, resealable bag. If you need to use it again, hold the mask at the elastic loops when removing it from the bag.
  • Clean your hands after removing the mask.

General tips

  • Make sure to clean your hands before touching your mask.
  • Make sure you have your own mask and do not share it with others.
  • Resist the temptation to pull down your mask to your chin or take if off when speaking to other people.
  • Do not store your mask around your arm or wrist or pull it down to rest around your chin or neck. Instead, store it in a clean plastic bag.

Demo – How to wear a mask properly

Watch this demo video to learn how to wear a mask properly and how to remove a mask.

If you don’t wear your mask properly It’s almost as if you are not wearing a mask. Because if the mask is hanging down, it is not covering your nose, then the virus can enter your nose and the mask is not going to protect you. If the mask is not tightly fitted around your face, then air can move in from the side of the mask when we breathe in and with that, the virus can also go inside the nose and mouth and cause infection.

Therefore below steps are very very important and this is something that we must become very used to and practice in our day-to-day life. 

  • How to wear a mask properly?
  • Make sure that it’s tightly around your face
  • How to take off mask properly?

We all know that coronavirus is spread through the respiratory route and hence wearing a mask is the key to preventing transmission and saving lives. So let us now discuss how to wear the mask correctly and how not to wear it.

Let us see the various kinds of masks available in the market. To name a few I shall be discussing three of these.

Conventional triple-layer mask

A conventional triple-layer mask can either be a medical mask like this or it may be made out of clothes.

So triple-layer mask means that the mask is essentially going to have three layers, the inner side and one outer side and one metal protective layer. There are elastics for your support. The important with is the nose clip. There is a metal strip that malls around your nose to take the shape of your face. If that is not available this mask will not provide a seal and it will not be adequate for protection from coronavirus.

N95 Mask

The N95 mask is the ideal mask for protection against coronavirus. This mask must be worn by any person who is taking care of covid patients, especially for Healthcare workers.

Mask with an expiratory valve

These are the masks that have an expiratory valve. These masks must be avoided for all purposes and any symptomatic person wearing it would end up spreading the disease more than giving protection.

Clean your hands before wearing a mask

Before wearing a mask one must ensure that the hands are clean and have to be washed with soap and water or they must be cleaned with an alcohol-based hand rub for at least 30 to 40 seconds. Pour an adequate amount of hand rub in a hand and spread it all over from the fronts and the backs of the palm. Join the fingers, and clean the knuckles, and repeat the step on both sides. Now interlace your fingers and clean between the webs. Clean your thumb and clean the fingernails followed by the wrist. Ensure that the hands are cleaned properly from all sources.

How to wear a triple-layer mask?

While wearing a triple-layer mask inspect the mask for any errors or damages. Identify the inner side of the mask which is usually white. The metal strip of the mask should always be towards the nose. Place the mask on the face covering the nose, mouth and chin. Now pinch the metal strip to mould it to the shape of the nose. Now make sure that there are no gaps.

Mask should not be used if soiled

It’s important to know that the mask should not be used if soiled. Do not pull down the mask while talking or coughing. Do not touch the front surface of a mask and in case accidentally you do, make sure that you clean your hands. Do not leave a mask at any place. The Mask must fit well and cover the mouth, nose and chin at all times. Keep it in a dry, clean bag if it needs to be reused. Clean the hands before wearing the mask and after taking it off. Discard the mask in a closed bin or in a yellow bag. The cloth mask must be washed thoroughly with soap and water or in boiling water and sun-dried before being used.

How to wear mask properly – Infographic

How to wear mask properly infographic
How to wear mask properly infographic Image Credits WHO

Right Way of Wearing Double Mask

Due to the rise in COVID-19 Cases, concerned authorities have advised wearing a double mask in public and crowded places, along with social distancing and frequent sanitizing of hands.

Final Thoughts

Hope that you could learn how to wear a mask properly, but wearing a mask is not enough. We must know that to fight coronavirus we must have a comprehensive approach including keeping our hands clean, not touching our face and mouth, again and again, avoiding going to crowded places and as much as possible please maintaining social distancing. Wear your mask properly and you will be protected from covid-19. 

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References: WHO Mask

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