In many cities of Pakistan, different organizations have installed antiviral gates as a way to stop coronavirus, similarly different types of face masks are being sold in the market. But are they effective and provide protection from COVID-19?
Health experts believe these antiviral walk through gates installed in offices, markets & railway stations are toxic traps which only provide a false impression of protection.
Antiviral Walkthrough Gates:
Dr Shobha Luxmi, infectious disease specialist & assistant professor at the renowned Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) where patients of coronavirus are being treated, believes that these walk through gates are waste of money.
She explained that virus doesn’t die just because of passing through walkthrough gates as it requires 30 seconds to disintegrate. She also revealed that people offered to install such walk through gates at DUHS but she refused.
Dr Mukhtiar Zaman, who is the head of pulmonology at Rehman Medical College Peshawar, said that if a person walks slowly than these antiviral gates can sanitize the clothes only.
Dr Shireen Khan from Fatimah Jinnah Hospital in Quetta also emphasized on the need of hand washing, sneezing etiquette and social distancing. Like other experts she believed that walk through gates are not recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) and they don’t provide complete safety.
These antiviral gates can also cause health problems if bleach is used instead of alcohol disinfection, which is expensive. Health experts believe that fumigation, for which chlorine us used, can cause damage to skin, throat and lungs.
Even previous research such as the one carried out by Shaheen Mehtar, Andre N. H. Bulabula, Haurace Nyandemoh and Steve Jambawai after use of chlorine during Ebola outbreak found it not only ineffective but hazardous to health.
Face-Mask:
WHO doesn’t recommend everyone to wear masks rather the recommendation of using masks is only for:
- Patients of COVID-19
- Someone who is in contact with such patients
- People with cough or flu
This is why Dr Faisal Mahmood, an infectious diseases expert at the Aga Khan University Hospital, said that wearing a facemask and pulling it on and off is of no need as it contaminates during these actions.
But other experts believe that masks are helpful especially because there are patients who are asymptomatic, they don’t develop symptoms but carry virus with a high risk of infecting others.