If you do not have any respiratory symptoms, such as fever, cough, or runny nose, you do not need to wear a medical mask.

When used alone, masks can give you a false feeling of protection and can even be a source of infection when not used correctly.

Wearing a medical mask can help limit the spread of some respiratory diseases. However, using a mask alone is not guaranteed to stop infections. Their use should be combined with other preventive measures.

Watch this short video to find out more.

The World Health Organization recommends avoiding protective masks by people who are not sick or have no symptoms of COVID-19. Wearing masks by healthy people can have consequences.

The only people who have the obligation to wear masks are the medical staff, the caregivers and the people infected with COVID-19. In turn, healthy people are advised to wear protective masks only when they come in contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19.

Original: WHO