At a media conference on Mar. 31, 2020, The Ministry of Health's Director of Medical Services Kenneth Mak was asked about the issue of masks.

Here's the question.

"Should we be wearing masks more given that more doctors especially overseas are saying that masks have helped them keep the numbers in check, and if so, are there enough masks going around here? What about handkerchiefs and handmade things?"

Here is Mak's answer.

"We continue to review the measures that we take and recommendations on a data-driven basis. We look at the evidence very carefully. And this applies not just to masks but also to the rest — safety distancing measures that we undertake. As far as masks are concerned, we are, in fact, in the process of continuing to review the data that's available both in the literature and the evidence, as well as international experience. And when we have completed this current round of review, we'll make those recommendations available. This includes our recommendations for masks policies."

Evolving situation

One of the latest international voices to advocate for the wearing of masks is Gao Fu, the director of the Chinese CDC, who said that people not wearing masks in public in the United States and Europe is a mistake.

SCMP also reported that the Chinese CDC said in a public advisory issued on Mar. 22 that people should continue to wear masks in the office, meeting rooms, lifts and on public transport, even though they don’t need to do so at home, in open air, or in an environment where there is good airflow and no crowds.

This is because droplets and close contact transmit the virus, he said: “Droplets play a very important role – you’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth.”

He added that because people may have the virus but be asymptomatic or presymptomatic, face masks help to prevent droplets that carry the virus from reaching and infecting others.

This of course runs counter to what the World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised.

The WHO website states that a person only needs to wear a mask if they are coughing or sneezing, or if they are taking care of a person suspected to have Covid-19.

In Singapore, the Ministry of Health has so far instructed people not to wear masks unless they are unwell.

MOH has instructed those in Singapore to only wear a mask if they have a fever, cough, or runny nose, or if they are recovering from an illness.

So do we wear masks?

According to a new study by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) associate professors, Edson Tandoc Jr. and Kim Hye Kyung, only about 6 per cent of those surveyed wore a face mask every day.

You can read more about the study here.

The Straits Times (ST) talked to a few medical experts about the issue in their article here.

In it, infectious diseases expert Leong Hoe Nam told ST that since it is impossible to have an infinite supply of masks, Leong advised that healthy people under 60 should not wear masks on a daily basis.

One of the doctors interviewed by ST, Wong Tien Hua, advised for a situational usage of masks, for example, when you're on a bus.

Both Wong and Leong put forth the notion of perhaps using cloth masks if a surgical one is not available. Two other experts, Professor Paul Tambyah and Dr Leong Choon Kit, disagreed.

Evidently, even doctors are quite divided on the issue of mask-wearing.

On Feb. 11, 2020, four senior medical practitioners signed off on an advisory urging Singaporeans to wear masks even if they are well.

In his response then, Mak acknowledged that while this advice was given in good faith, there wasn't established evidence that "in the open, this virus spreads by the air, or aerosolisation".

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