Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 3, 2020 (SKNIS): Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, says that persons with asthma are not exempt from wearing masks in the general public.
He highlighted this during his appearance at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) COVID-19 Daily Briefing for May 1.
Dr. Wilkinson said, “Even if somebody is asthmatic, they should wear a mask also because these persons with pre-existing conditions are at an increased risk for the ill-effects of COVID-19 and so just because you are asthmatic doesn’t necessarily mean that you cannot wear a mask.”
“As a matter of fact, if you are asthmatic and you wear a mask, you are protected from inhaling dust particles etc, that would trigger your asthma attack,” said Dr. Wilkinson.
“Just by you having a diagnosis of asthma is not an excuse for you not to wear a mask,” he further said. “Generally speaking, when someone is in public, it is advisable that we all wear masks to prevent us from spreading the disease.”
However, the Medical Chief of Staff said that “There are some categories of persons though that should be taken into special consideration.”
“It is thought that if a child is below the age of two years old, then that child may not have to wear a mask,” he said.
“However, we are are not saying that that child is free to move around in a supermarket and drugs store. It means then that the parent needs to exercise some responsibility and keep that child away from the general public,” he added.
“Also, persons who will not be able to remove the mask themselves, then these are persons who should not be wearing a mask. It also means too that these are persons who, during this pandemic should not be out in the general public,” said the Medical Chief of Staff.
In addition “If you know that you are in one of these categories, then you need to make sure that you stay home and you stay out of the general public,” he said.
“We are asking persons to sacrifice a little during this time so we can have an entire lifetime ahead of us,” he said.