“Wearing a mask when we are well, often gives us a false sense of security instead, and we are more likely to touch our faces, when we constantly adjust our masks, which is one way the disease spreads."
00:00 we should regularly wash our hands with
00:02 soap and water and avoid touching our
00:05 face with our hands even at a meeting
00:08 where we have on this ministry task
00:10 force while I was speaking I was
00:12 touching my face until Minister Lawrence
00:15 Wong matched me with his elbow as if
00:17 stopped touching your face let me now
00:20 share about what we know about this
00:22 novel coronavirus this virus comes from
00:26 the family of coronavirus which includes
00:28 other viruses such as MERS and sons as
00:32 well as the mother variants causing
00:35 common cold the medical consensus at
00:38 this moment is that the novel
00:40 coronavirus is more transmissible but
00:43 appears less deadly themselves evidence
00:46 suggests that the rate of human-to-human
00:48 transmission of this virus appears to be
00:51 higher than that of SARS for now the
00:54 evidence also suggests that transmission
00:56 is mostly via droplets what this means
01:00 is that a virus is carried within
01:02 droplets emitted from an infected person
01:05 over a short distance such as when a
01:08 person coughs or sneezes if these
01:10 droplets come into contact with the eyes
01:12 nose or mouth of an individual directly
01:16 or indirectly through hands that have
01:19 come into contact with these droplets
01:20 the individual may become infected to
01:24 clarify there is no evidence currently
01:27 to suggest that the virus is airborne
01:29 there are other viruses such as the
01:32 chickenpox which can easily be
01:35 transported via air via air currents and
01:38 do not require droplets to contact the
01:41 eyes or nose the novel coronavirus is
01:44 not in this category of viruses the
01:46 novel coronavirus could also transmit
01:49 through surface contact let me explain
01:52 when a person sneezes or coughs the
01:54 droplets fall onto the surfaces of
01:56 tables and chairs and the virus may
02:00 remain alive for up to a few days when
02:03 someone else touches the services of
02:06 these tables and chairs the virus can be
02:08 transferred to the his hands and he then
02:11 rubs his eyes or nose
02:13 washing his hands he may become infected
02:15 so we should wash our hands this is also
02:19 why we only quarantined the closed
02:21 context of confirmed cases for more
02:24 transient transient contexts such as
02:26 individuals that the confirmed cases may
02:29 have walked past in malls or hotels the
02:32 risk of transmission is law for
02:34 coronavirus generally the person is most
02:37 infectious when he is displaying
02:40 symptoms all course symptomatic and this
02:42 is likely to be the case for the novel
02:44 coronavirus as well there is evidence of
02:47 limited spread from a person without
02:49 symptoms during the incubation period
02:52 however this form of transmission may be
02:55 uncommon and as so far involved isolated
02:58 cases only at this point the evidence
03:01 still points towards higher
03:03 transmissibility when the person is
03:06 tipped displaying symptoms as such
03:08 medical professionals both overseas and
03:11 in Singapore have advised that the most
03:14 effective way that we can protect
03:16 ourselves is to practice good personal
03:18 hygiene
03:19 we should regularly wash our hands with
03:22 soap and water and avoid touching our
03:24 face with our hands these may sound
03:27 simple but actually they are very
03:29 difficult to do because all of us touch
03:31 our face all the time even at a meeting
03:34 where we have on this ministry task
03:36 force while I was speaking I was
03:38 touching my face until Minister Lawrence
03:41 Wong not me
03:42 with his elbow and say stop touching
03:44 your face so it is simple but extremely
03:48 difficult but are actually very
03:51 effective in preventing all kinds of
03:53 infection potential infection from a a
03:57 cinematic persons in fact it's less
03:59 likely to be from coughing or sneezing
04:02 directly because they don't have
04:05 symptoms they are not sneezing or
04:07 coughing for more likely by touching 04:09 contaminated surfaces for which masks 04:13 offer no protection wearing a mask when 04:16 we are well often give us a false sense 04:19 of security instead and we are more 04:21 likely to touch our faces when we 04:23 constantly adjust our masks 04:26 which is one way the disease spreads at
04:30 the same time we need to protect others
04:32 our loved ones friends colleagues and
04:35 fellow Singaporeans that we come into
04:36 contact with if we are sick we should 04:39 rest and recover at home as far as 04:41 possible if we do need to go out to see 04:44 a doctor for example we should wear a 04:46 surgical mask to protect others so this 04:50 is when mass is needed when we are 04:52 unwell and have to go out
05:02 you