Experts says wearing sweat-soaked masks not beneficial

KATHMANDU: According to health experts masks should not be worn when wet with sweat.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends people to not wear masks at all when engaged in physically strenuous activities like exercising which can cause a lot of sweating because sweat-soaked masks make it difficult to breathe and promote the growth of microorganisms.

This opinion is held by Dr. Sameer Mani Dixit, director of research at the Center for Molecular Dynamics Nepal, who suggests people carry two masks with them when going about their day.

“People should always carry an extra mask so that they can change it if the mask they’re wearing gets wet,” he said, The Rising Nepal quoted.

However, experts emphasize that masks should be an additional precautionary measure to and not a replacement for social distancing.

Moreover, WHO, as well as Dr. Dixit, say that surgical masks cannot be reused and must be discarded when damp. “Other reusable masks should also be worn only after a wash in detergent water,” Dixit said, TRN quoted.

There is no reason to be as cautious with clothes, though as doctors all over the world generally agree that transmission of the coronavirus through clothing items is unlikely, except for a few scenarios when people are in direct close contact with an infected individual.

As per interviews and reports by Healthline, an American medical website edited by a team of doctors, pharmacists, clinical professors, psychiatrists, nutritionists and healthcare technology experts, humidity and moisture play a significant environmental role in whether a virus can thrive and the nature of most clothing items is not conducive to this. But regular laundry is a good idea.