Members of the public generally do not need to wear N95 masks when commuting to work, school or while indoors, the Ministry of Health has clarified in an update to its haze advisory on Thursday (Oct 15) night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The advice comes as haze conditions continue to worsen in Singapore, with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in the central region reaching 226 at 10am on Friday<\/a>, within the very unhealthy range.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the updated advisory, the ministry emphasised that reducing outdoor activities and physical exertion remains an important way to limit exposure to haze particles.<\/p>\n However, those who need to spend several hours outdoors when PM2.5 levels are high or very high may consider wearing a well-fitted N95 mask or its equivalent<\/a>, depending on their health condition and air quality at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an earlier update to the advisory on Wednesday, MOH said that KN95, FFP2 and KF94 masks are as effective as N95 masks in reducing exposure to haze particles.<\/p>\n Healthy individuals may reduce their exposure by wearing a well-fitted N95 or its equivalent when heading outdoors for immediate activities when the one-hour PM2.5 reading reaches Band 4 (very high).<\/p>\n Meanwhile, vulnerable persons such as the elderly, pregnant women and individuals with chronic heart or lung disease may do so when the one-hour PM2.5 reading is in Band 3 (high).\u00a0<\/p>\n That said, individuals in this group, including those with severe lung or heart problems, who have difficulty breathing at rest or on exertion should consult their doctor before using an N95 mask or its equivalent.\u00a0<\/p>\n The ministry also advised those with existing chronic heart and lung conditions to ensure that medications are on hand and readily available, while anyone who feels discomfort when using an N95 mask or its equivalent should take a break from using it.\u00a0<\/p>\n But for those who are using an N95 mask, how many times can you actually reuse one mask?<\/p>\n In response to AsiaOne’s queries on Thursday, Dr Leong Hoe Nam, infectious disease specialist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said that N95 masks can be used for one to two days, provided it remains in good condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n For hygiene purposes, he recommended storing each used mask inside a sealed Ziploc bag, ideally keeping them dry with a desiccant.\u00a0<\/p>\n Before reusing the mask, Dr Leong said users should also examine the mask and check for signs of damage, such as frayed edges or holes.\u00a0<\/p>\n They should then do a “seal check” by gently exhaling to feel for air leaks around the edges, or inhaling to check whether the mask draws inwards towards their face.\u00a0<\/p>\n If there is a leak, users will feel “a gush at the site of the leak” during exhalation, said Dr Leong.\u00a0<\/p>\n If it passes the test, he advised users to “keep the mask and keep using” it.\u00a0<\/p>\n What about children?<\/p>\n According to Dr Leong, getting one to fit children properly can be “extremely challenging”.<\/p>\n “Unless they are old enough with a sufficiently large face to wear the N95, it is a futile exercise,” he said, adding that alternative mask types such as the KF94 and KN95 may be more “tolerant of different sizes of faces”.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, MOH also noted there are no international certification standards for the use of masks in children.<\/p>\n The ministry advised that a well-fitted AIR+ Smart Mask may be used by children without heart or lung conditions where necessary.<\/p>\n Separately, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong also reminded Singaporeans to avoid outdoor activities<\/a> during bad haze episodes.<\/p>\n “Wear a mask if you need one, stay indoors when the haze is bad, and check official sources and news channels for updates on the haze conditions,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n [[nid:747762]]<\/p>\n carol.ong@asiaone.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Members of the public generally do not need to wear N95 masks when commuting to work, school or while indoors, the Ministry of Health has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":93446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/93446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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