Coronavirus confusion reigns as World Health Organisation scrambles advice about masks and asymptomatic spread
- UN health body clarifies earlier statement describing asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 as ‘rare’
- Public will ignore instructions if given contradictory messages, making it more difficult to control pandemic, experts warn
It is an issue that has been argued about for months, both by experts and by people strolling through parks all over the world: can people who do not feel sick spread the coronavirus, and if so should we all be wearing masks to stop it?
Even the World Health Organisation cannot seem to get it straight. On Tuesday the UN health agency scrambled to explain seemingly contradictory comments it has made in recent days about the two related issues. The confusion and mixed messages only makes controlling the pandemic that much more difficult, experts say.
“If you are giving them confusing messages or they’re not convinced about why they should do something, like wear masks, they will just ignore you,” said Ivo Vlaev, a professor of behavioural sciences at the University of Warwick.
The communications debacle highlighted WHO’s change to its long-standing mask advice – a revision that was made months after many other organisations and countries already recommended people don masks.
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WHO says Covid-19 situation is worsening worldwide
On Friday, WHO changed its mask advice, recommending that people wear fabric masks if they could not maintain social distancing, if they were over age 60 or had underlying medical conditions. Part of the reasoning, WHO officials said, was to account for the possibility that transmission could occur from people who had the disease but were not yet symptomatic.