The issue of wearing face masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the community has been tricky from the start. Firstly, there was the major global shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for front line health workers, on whom we all depend.
Like health authorities everywhere, the HSE was in a panic, scrambling to secure supplies. The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) certainly did not want the public to buy up the limited face mask supplies that were available, hence they offered no encouragement.
In a typical year, the HSE usually stocks about 500,000 medical grade face masks for hospital and healthcare use. But when the Covid-19 pandemic struck this year, it was immediately clear that half a million face masks