SINGAPORE - Singaporeans should follow doctors' advice on how best to protect themselves from the Wuhan virus, which includes not wearing a mask unless they are unwell, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
"For individuals, you have to take the best advice on how best to protect yourself, and what is the best thing for us to do collectively as a community, in order to get through this safely and well," he said on Friday (Jan 31).
PM Lee also gave the assurance that there is sufficient supply of masks in Singapore.
"We have not run out; there are plenty. But if everybody wears one every day, well or not well... every day I'll need six million times three or four masks. And in that case, I will run out," he noted.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, he urged Singaporeans to practise good hand hygiene, pointing out that masks can lull the wearer into a false sense of security.
"The mask gives you a false sense of security because most of the time, you don't get the virus from breathing it in," he said. "You get it from contact, and you need to take the rest of the precautions - to wash your hands, to keep yourself clean, and to know you are unwell and to stay away from crowds."
