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A World Health Organization June 5, 2020, guidance memo on
face mask use during the pandemic says there is “no direct evidence” universal
masking of healthy is affective with respiratory illnessess, including
COVID-19.
Instead of everyone wearing masks, the Who recommends that
those with “any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 wear a medical mask,
self-isolate and seek medical advice as soon as they feel unwell.”
However, the WHO gives contradictory information to
governments on when to impose mask-wearing rules for the general population. In
that instance, criteria for mandating masks include mask availability, purpose
of the order to wear them and settings in which they would be appropriate.
To make matters even more confusing, the WHO says that cloth
or non-medical masks should be worn only by infected individuals to keep them
from spreading disease, rather than for prevention. With asymptomatic
individuals, the memo also says “available evidence from contact tracing
reported by Member States suggests that asymptomatically-infected individuals
are much less likely to transmit the virus than those who develop symptoms.”
SOURCE: World Health
Organization June 5, 2020