The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr Paa Kwesi Baidoo has advised against the use cloth face masks by clinicians as the country combats the novel coronavirus.

This comes after the government provided cloth face masks to health facilities in the Ashanti Region to be distributed to frontline workers.

The decision was met with strong opposition by the Ghana Medical Association and the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwifery Association.

Defending the their actions on Top Story Friday, Dr Baidoo noted that several researches has uncovered that cloth masks does not give the maximum protection to health workers against the virus

Hence, the globally accepted nose masks and protective suits should be given to health personnel.

 “There has been several research with which indicates that cloth mask do not, even before the advent of Covid-19, protect one from either bacteria or viral infections.

“And even the African Centre for disease control and prevention recommended that this cloth mask should not be used by clinicians,” he stressed.

Highlighting reasons cloth face masks are not suitable for medical use, Dr Baidoo said the cloth face masks are uncomfortable and difficult to breathe through.

He indicated that clinicians who frequently come into contact with patients, must be appropriately protected from the virus and the cloth face masks will not guarantee their safety.

“The non-clinical staff in the offices or those who are not in direct contacts with patients, can use the cloth mask because the risk of infections is minimal.

“But for staff in the Out Patient Department (OPD), the ward, Operating rooms per the evidence available, it speaks against the use of cloth masks at all levels,” he stated.

The Regional Chairman further demanded the methodology the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) used to arrive at the conclusion that cloth face mask is a suitable protective gear against the virus.

“I am not saying the FDA did a shoddy work. But none of us have scrutinize what they have done or subjected it to scientific analysis to come to that conclusion. We do not what was done, all we hear is ‘This has been approved by the FDA’”

“And as a doctor and a scientist, you just don’t accept what somebody tells you, we have been taught right from school to question and examine things to arrive at a conlusion. So if any of this is missing, it becomes difficult [to accept it].”

The FDA’s Head of Medical Devices Department, Joseph Yaw-Bernie Bennie on his part assured health workers that the necessary procedures have been carried out to certify the cloth masks.

According to him, cloth nose masks has the same specifications as the approved N95 and surgical nose masks