Debate over face masks continues amid calls for mandatory requirement at workplaces above Alert Level 2

August 20, 2020

It comes as emerging evidence shows Covid-19’s ability to infect people while airborne. (Source: Other)

There are calls for New Zealand to enforce face masks at more workplaces, amid growing evidence Covid-19 can transmit in tiny particles that hang in the air.

It would echo similar moves by France, which is grappling with a record post-lockdown surge in Covid-19 cases.

Face masks were already commonplace in France but soon, in most workplaces, they'll be compulsory.

"The goal is to really put on this mask to prevent these droplets from viruses from being transported," Dr Matthieu Calafiore says.

He's referring to a growing body of evidence that there's more risk than previously thought from aerosol transmission.

That's tiny particles from our breath, which can linger in the air for hours and accumulate over time, particularly indoors.

It remains a much debated topic, with the World Health Organization saying it needs much more research, especially to see if there's enough of the virus in the particles to cause infection.

University of Otago epidemiologist Michael Baker says people should use masks more often in indoor environments.

"In some ways the exact distinction between droplets or aerosols or both doesn't matter so much because we just have to assume when there's a circulating virus, there's a high risk of transmission in indoor environments," he told 1 NEWS.

In France, which has seen more than 30,000 people die from Covid-19, around a quarter of new clusters are being attributed to the workplace. 

Back here, Mr Baker would like us to go a step further too. 

"I think we're getting used to the idea of masks, they're a big change for us, and at the moment just recommended," he says.

"But the next step is really to make them compulsory at Alert Level 2 or above when people are in these indoor environments."

It's a continuing debate as the world adapts to rapidly evolving new normals.

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