“Downgrade your mask before entering”—a dangerous NHS policy at a critical public health ȷuncture

In May 2022, the UK Health Security Agency changed its guidance to make masking in healthcare settings a provider decision dependent on local risk assessment and prevalence.1 Local masking policies vary widely, but anecdotal reports indicate that some issue all visitors with a single-use disposable paper mask on arrival and ask them to replace the mask they are currently wearing with it. A request for examples on Twitter quickly drew dozens of responses including from immunosuppressed people who had attended for chemotherapy or scans and had been asked to remove their high-filtration FFP2 or FFP3 respirator and replace it with a single-use disposable mask as a condition of entry.2 In some, but not all, examples, the individual had been able to negotiate putting the single-use mask on top of their respirator.SARS-CoV-2 is an airborne pathogen which is transmitted when people inhale viral particles that infected individuals exhale when speaking, coughing,…
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