Good Morning Britain’s Dr Sarah Jarvis has advised the public to ditch any face masks with filters if possible, explaining that they do little for protection.
GMB’s weatherman Alex Beresford shared a selfie yesterday showing him wearing a black face mask with an air filter, which has become a popular style during the coronavirus pandemic.
However, he received comments from his Instagram followers telling him it was the wrong choice of face covering.
Sharing his dilemma on Thursday’s episode of Good Morning Britain, Alex explained: ‘I want to know what is the correct type of face mask to wear because yesterday, I was travelling to London in the back of a cab and I was rightly wearing a face mask.
‘I tweeted a picture of him wearing a face mask and I had a few people come at me on Twitter saying I was wearing the wrong type of face mask because mine actually had a filter and, although it filters the air coming in so it protects me, it doesn’t protect the people from me when I’m breathing out.’
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He asked: ‘Is that true and should I change my face mask?’
Dr Sarah, who is currently filling in for GMB’s resident Dr Hillary Jones while he’s on holiday, explained: ‘On the whole, we recommend the ones that don’t have a filter.
‘There are masks that have filters, the so-called PPE masks – anything with N-95 on it or FFP3 – but those should absolutely be reserved for healthcare workers because there is a global shortage of them.’
She then recommended that face masks or coverings have ‘at least two layers, preferably three’ to provide ultimate protection from germs.
‘That’s new because we’re now seeing that there’s better evidence of you protecting other people if you’re wearing two or three layers,’ she explained.
Dr Sarah added: ‘In the past, Dr Hilary has said anything is OK because that’s what the evidence was then, but now we’ve moved on and we know that it’s better if you wear two layers.’
A little confused about the layers, presenter Adil Ray quizzed: ‘Hang on, are you saying wear two masks?’
‘No, a two or three-layer mask. I’ve got a homemade mask but it’s made from two or three layers of material,’ Dr Sarah explained.
From Friday, it will become mandatory for face masks and coverings to be worn in all shops. People could face fines and the police could even be called if anyone enters shops without them.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
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