Until this week, the use of facemasks has not been mandatory in this COVID-19 pandemic. In this line, a good part of the people has not been clear that it should be done, and more in the case of parents with children. In this article, we will tell you what you need to know.
Is it mandatory to use face masks on children?
From Thursday, May 21, the use of face masks will be mandatory in public spaces for all those over six years of age.
In this case, children under six years of age would not be obliged to wear masks, but… What matters more? What matters more: the rule or the maximum protection of your child?
Until this week it was not mandatory to wear the mask, but we don’t need to be forced to do something to do it. The main thing is health, and no one wants a child to be infected by coronavirus or to transmit the disease to other people.
In the same vein, it should also be borne in mind that the need to wear a mask or not will depend on where you take your child and the people around him or her.
If you take your child to the grocery store, obviously, the more protection the better. On the other hand, if you live in the countryside and go to a meadow where there are no people, it would not be very necessary to use the mask.
What kind of masks for children should be used?
As a parent, what do you prefer… Not to get infected or not to infect others? It may seem an absurd question, but it is not so absurd, because masks are not suitable for everything, since they are not all the same.
A simple example is surgical masks, which are the ones that everyone uses. Actually, if someone sneezes in front of you, it will function more or less as a mechanical barrier, although it does not serve as an anti-coronavirus filter. In fact, surgical masks serve to prevent the wearer from infecting others.
On the other hand, if you prefer to opt for a higher level of protection against contagion from another person, you should use masks with special filters, especially FFP2 and FFP3 masks, which are the masks that are really recommended by health personnel.
How are the masks fitted?
Has no one thought that all children are different? That a seven year old does not have a head like a three year old, and that a three year old will have a harder time putting it on (and keeping it on properly).
As such, surgical masks are placed on the ears, since they have rubber bands that allow them to be hooked there. In the case of FFP2 and FFP3 masks, they are usually more rigid and can be adapted in the nose and mouth area.
In turn, the difficulty to fit and use the masks increases when the child wears glasses. It is not easy, as the lenses of the glasses are very likely to fog up. The mask must be positioned correctly, just above the glasses and with a small gap between them so that the air expelled does not condense. In children who are constantly moving around, it is even more complicated.
What other measures should be taken into account?
To answer this, it should be taken into account which parts of the child’s body will be protected. In this case, it is essential to clean the hands well with hydroalcoholic gel or to use gloves.
These measures, together with the use of a mask and maintaining a safety distance of between one and a half and two meters, should be sufficient to avoid problems.