Professor Shabir Madhi, of Wits University, believes that the legal requirement to wear a mask in public has become obsolete.
Madhi, a Covid-19 expert who is also calling for an end to all lockdown restrictions, is convinced that the cloth masks worn by the majority of the population do “next to nothing” in terms of preventing the spread of the virus.
Madhi said that infection rates in South Africa have not been minimized by the use of masks and for that reason any requirement to mandate masks “should be reconsidered”.
“There’s no point continuing with the mask mandate. Especially with how Omicron spreads. Most people are using the material masks, which don’t really prevent infection – even though it can stop the spread of droplets. In that context, there’s little value for mask wearing in outdoor spaces. You could maybe make a case for face coverings indoors in poorly ventilated spaces, but not even throughout the year. If we want masks to work, we need the right types, and the cloth ones don’t protect us from infection. The days of mask wearing are now obsolete,” he said.
Sources: The World News, MSN
Follow FiND iT on Facebook here.
ALSO READ: Elderly woman beaten to death by 15-year-old attacker
