Dr Faisal Urges People To Wear Masks As 2nd COVID Wave To Last 2 Months Due To Winter

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Nov, 2020 ) :Reiterating the importance of wearing face masks, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan said the nation had dodged a bullet last time, but now the people were comparatively less careful during the second wave of COVID-19.

"The second wave [of a viral infection] is always different because a certain number of people have already had the infection and logically speaking there are fewer people left to infect, however, that is significantly counterbalanced by other factors, including the change in weather as indirectly it changes your social network density," the SAPM said during an online talk on 'Pakistan's second wave of COVID-19: Will there be another miracle'.

"When it's colder people huddle together and in our particular case in Pakistan, winter is the season of wedding and the people have a lot of social events. However, this holds special risks in my view," he added.

Elaborating his stance, Dr Faisal Sultan said,"Weddings are a festive occasion and everyone meets a set of people. Unlike a socializing at restaurant where we eat and leave, at wedding we go and meet the bride, groom, hosts, etc." He stressed the people to mitigate the risk by modifying their behavior at events, and that was the idea behind outdoor weddings with lesser number of guests which certainly reduced risks.

"The duration and height of the next peak is unknown but it is likely to be the same as the last," he warned.

"Because it is winter and if temperature has any impact or effect on this virus � whether directly or indirectly � more than half of the country has winter lasting till the end of January, so we have about two months of risks and challenge," he added.

It may be mentioned that the number of confirmed cases in the country on Monday stood at 398,024, with 341,423 having recovered successfully. The country reported 8,025 deaths, data on the government-run Covid.gov.pk portal shows.

Dr Faisal said, "The country came out of the first wave better than other countries because of simple precautions including proper use of masks. This time, people have developed a sense of invincibility, especially in context of wearing masks." Acknowledging that the messaging about wearing masks during the first wave had a higher receptivity due to unknown nature of the virus, he stated, "The prime minister has repeatedly said that masks are one great tool we have to allow for continuity of business is masking." Urging the people to necessarily wear masks in close environments and crowded places, Dr Faisal cited it to be the single most effective protective tool against the coronavirus.

"While we wait for vaccines and technological advancement to tackle the pandemic let us all wear masks," he said, "Masks are currently a rich man and poor man's vaccines."\932