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From April 16 until further notice, there is an obligation in Poland to cover the mouth and nose by people in public space. All of us (with some exceptions) must use guards on the street, in pedestrian traffic, in offices, shops, service areas and workplaces. Some people take this obligation seriously, others point out the absurdity of the regulation and “do not put on a muzzle”.
- The obligation to wear mouth and nose guards in Poland caused a lot of controversy. Before that, according to WHO recommendations, it did not make sense for healthy people to wear masks. Masks should be reserved for sick people, doctors and medical staff, and for people who work with people at risk
- Poland is not the first country to introduce this obligation. Masks are worn, among others at our neighbors – Slovakia and the Czech Republic, as well as in Austria
- Initially, it was noticeable that Poles were serious about the issue of “masking”. However, there are more and more voices that this is an absurd regulation and can do more harm than good. We asked our readers what they thought about the obligatory wearing of masks
WHO does not recommend masks for healthy people, but it does not consider it a bad idea
From the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the WHO had a clear position on the wearing of mouth and nose guards by healthy (or potentially healthy) people in public spaces. The WHO recommendations referred to the obligation to wear masks by sick people and those particularly exposed to contact with the coronavirus.
During a press conference on April 3, Mike Ryan, WHO’s chief emergency expert, said wearing mouth and nose protectors in public and protecting when coughing and sneezing was not a bad idea. Officially, however, there are no guidelines for the wearing of masks or other face protection by healthy people who want to protect themselves from infection.
However, this did not prevent the governments of some countries – the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Japan, and finally Poland – from introducing the obligation to wear masks in public spaces. And so, on April 16, Poles were ordered to cover their mouth and nose. The order applies to everyone with some exceptions.
Why has the Polish government changed its mind regarding the obligation to wear mouth and nose guards? The case was commented on by the spokesman of the Ministry of Health, Wojciech Andrusiewicz, on the air of RMF FM:
We are entering the next stages of the epidemic, where the state’s actions are adapted to a different epidemic situation. Currently, we certainly have a stage in which people who are infected may appear on the streets, but due to the lack of symptoms or very scanty symptoms, they are undiagnosed because they did not see the need to go to the doctor.
The spokesman also added that the mask de facto protects not us, but from us. Some of us may be asymptomatic carriers of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and unknowingly infect people in our environment. The mask prevents this to some extent.
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is spread by airborne droplets, by coughing, sneezing, talking and even breathing. The mouth and nose protector to some extent reduces the spread of secretions from the mouth and nose and thus limits the transmission of the virus.
What do our readers think about wearing masks in public spaces?
Poland “masked”, or what we think about wearing masks
The obligation to wear mouth and nose covers has been going on for over two weeks. Like other restrictions related to limiting the spread of the pandemic, it is already starting to weigh on us a little. Now, in addition to the keys, mobile phone and wallet, we look for a mask before leaving the house. There is a fine for not having it.
After the initial “frenzy” associated with sewing masks from sheets, old T-shirts or remnants of materials, we start to think about the masks worse and worse. Our readers who decided to write on [email protected]do not quite agree with the obligation to cover the mouth and nose in public places.
Dorota does not deny wearing masks as such, but points out that they are not always necessary:
Protective masks in the store, in communication, during a conversation in close contact YES, but NO on the street, not in the park, not when walking from A to B. They are very difficult to breathe in, they also have a negative impact on human well-being . (…) It would be more beneficial to sensitize people to be mindful in carrying out tasks. Shopping separately, walking separately, etc. There is so much talk about how important it is to be immune, how important it is to move outdoors. Think of city dwellers for whom the road to the store is sometimes the only walk.
Our readers also complain that they breathe badly when wearing the masks, and wearing them all the time causes a feeling of discomfort, not only physically but also mentally. The medicine drew attention to abnormal breathing in the mask. med. Elżbieta Dudzińska.
– The mask will provoke mouth breathing, faster and de facto shallower. It is imperative to resist the temptation to breathe through your mouth faster, as this will only worsen the situation and aggravate the feeling of breathlessness. If we manage to do this, we will adapt after a few days and we will not feel breathlessness, provided that the mask is made of a material that is breathable to the air – he advises.
More about mask breathing techniques: The doctor advises how to breathe in a mask
Masks and mental state
Sebastian, like Dorota, notices that masks are needed, but not all and not always:
Masks, of course, like this: in closed public spaces (offices, shops, stations, buildings with recreational, entertainment and cultural functions), public and municipal means of transport, etc. Not in open space, in the open air. Such a restriction will ensure that we will protect people in places of their highest concentration and at the same time the highest potential concentration of virus particles (closed rooms), while at the same time freeing people from carrying them outdoors, contributing to building immunity, protecting against other health problems and significantly affecting to improve the psychophysical condition of the population – which is particularly important in the context of the upcoming holidays.
The psychological aspect often appears in the observations of our readers. Initially, we heard that wearing the mask by people with health is not justified, although it provides “psychological comfort” of protection. Now, more and more often we hear that wearing a mask or other cover due to government orders badly affects our mental health.
Professor Claus-Christian Carbon from the Department of General Psychology and Methodology has published in The Lancet a study on the psychology of wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his research he noted that the acceptance of wearing masks in Europe is low, and many people just feel “strange” wearing masks and therefore do not follow the recommendations. Carbon conducted an experiment to see how the environment influences our perception of wearing a mask. 86 volunteers took part in the study. They were to assess how they felt wearing a mask on their face and being in different groups – with or without masks.
The results showed that mask-wearers who were also in mask-wearing social groups felt less uncomfortable than in groups where few people were wearing masks. The more people in the group had mouth and nose protection, the less “weird” the test person felt. In the conclusion made in the article, we can read that the more people use masks, the less weird wearing them, and thus the acceptance of their use increases.
Walking in wet rags on the face is harmful
Finally, Monika’s observations:
Wearing masks only makes sense in shops or public transport. Considering what the “mask” type of protection looks like (scarf, scarf, etc.), they do not protect against anything, maybe against contact with the police and the fine. Constant walking in wet rags on the face is much more harmful than not having them. Not to mention all the activities in these makeshift makers. Let those who invented it try what it looks like. Generally speaking, it is more about making it look nice and give a deceptive sense of security.
The obligation to wear masks fell on us a bit unexpectedly. Just look around the city to notice that most of us wear mouth and nose protectors incorrectly. And this, as we know, does more harm than good. For your own health, since we already wear a mask, in order to avoid a ticket, it is worth doing it correctly.
Below you will find an infographic from which you will learn everything about masks. We also recall doctor Grzesiowski’s recommendations on how long the mask should be worn:
Protective masks have a useful life. If we breathe through the mask for too long, it will become damp, soaked with water vapor and saliva. Such a mask should be washed at a temperature of at least 60 degrees, otherwise it will be a source of infection. Disposable masks should be thrown away after several minutes of wearing, but the problem is that people wear them for 8-10 hours. Such masks pose a serious health risk.