Pune: Right from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to the local administration officials, everybody is advising people to wear mask to protect themselves from the deadly coronavirus outbreak and infection. However, there is still confusion about whether children below six years of age should wear such mask.
The international guidelines on Covid-19 prevention suggest that except children below five years of age, all other children should wear mask. However, parents are more concerned about this aspect of children below six or five years of age being exposed to Covid-19 infections if they do not wear mask.
Pediatrician Dr Sunil Godbole says, “It is important to take care of children below five years of age in such pandemic times. There is confusion among health experts about whether children in this age group should wear mask or not. But children from this age group do suffer from problems due to mask. They are unable to breathe properly and it is a challenge to teach them about proper handling of mask. Hence parents should avoid taking out children of this age group to crowded or public places.”
Health experts have opined that even if children have to wear a mask, it should be a triple layer cloth mask. These cloth masks can be washed in hot water and reused. Also they can be prepared at home. If children are infected with coronavirus infection, then they should use surgical or medical mask. Since these masks are not washable, they should be disposed off properly after 8 hours of their use.
Precautions to be taken for children 6 years or below age group
– Do not take children of this age group out in public places or crowded locations
– Wearing mask by children of this age group is not mandatory
– Children might suffer problems of breathing while wearing mask
– If these children are going to come in contact with a patient then they must use a mask
– Also, a close watch should be kept on them while they are wearing mask as they can’t properly handle the mask