Kenyans struggling to abandon face masks after CS Mutahi lifts ban
The government may have eased Covid-19 containment rules by removing the mask mandatory but a section of Kenyans has chosen to wear them when outside their homes.
After about two years of being required to don face masks in public places to curb the spread of Covid-19, many Kenyans are struggling to discard the masks.
Some Kenyans claim that besides preventing the coronavirus, the masks protect them from dust and getting air-borne diseases.
Others say that they feel unusual not to have one since they had become a norm.
Face mask was an efficient hygienic tool to prevent the spread of a viral infection which seems to be linked to relevant protection during close contact scenarios by limiting pathogen-containing aerosol and liquid droplet dissemination.
They were designed to protect both the person who wears them and the immediate environment from breathable pollutants (respiratory poisons or bacterial/viral pathogenic organisms).
Importantly, the masks brought about respiratory compromise in patients with severe obstructive pulmonary disease, secondary to the development of hypercapnia.
Scientists had emphasised that wearing of face masks effectively interrupted airborne infections in the community.
Wearing a face mask was obligatory to protect the population from any risks of airborne illness, according to the government.
However, the directive has affected face masks distributor who recently received a huge consignment of face masks.
Announcing the end of mandatory wearing face masks, CS Mutahi Kagwe still recommended that people should continue wearing the masks (though optional).
He left the masking option open, however, whoever wants to keep wearing them is free to do so and those who don’t want can breathe easy.
“Police and law enforcement officers should not harass Kenyans who are not wearing face masks in public,” Kagwe said this at Afya House in Nairobi on Friday.
The end of the face mask mandate makes Kenya the first African country to relax this Covid-19 measure.
This is as a result of the low positivity rate and so has the adherence of most of the containment measures.
