KCCA advises against using cloth masks
People wear facemasks while in public places in Kampala recently. PHOTO BY STEPHEN OTAGE
Kampala Capital City Authority has warned the public against using cloth masks being sold on the roadside because they are not the recommended type for use.
While receiving a consignment of face masks for the Nakasero Market food vendors on Saturday, Dr Richard Walyomo, the KCCA head of the Covid-19 surveillance team in Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso districts, said the masks many people are wearing in Kampala do not protect against the virus.
“Surgical masks have two layers which prevents viruses and bacteria from going through it,” he said.
He said cloth masks do not have the second layer which means viruses and bacteria can penetrate through the spaces in between threads of the material.
On Saturday, Smart Girls Foundation, Hope Hub, and Tenge Collections, donated facial masks to Nakasero Market vendors.
According to Jamila Mayanja, the CEO Smart Girls Foundation, their masks were approved by KCCA and are made by girls who have dropped out of school due to early pregnancy.
She said all the profits they are currently making from the sales during the Covid-19 crisis are being ploughed back to manufacture the free masks which they are donating.
Geofrey Rwakabale, the town clerk central division, said whereas they ensured that market vendors spaced their stalls as per the Ministry of Health standard operating procedures when the lockdown was enforced, there were no measures put in place to ensure that people entering the market maintain social distancing.
“We worked with the leadership of the markets to ensure that the stalls are properly spaced but there was no provision for the number of people entering the market at any given time,” he said.
