Initial symptoms of COVID-19 similar to flu, still unnecessary for public to wear mask when well

Some patients who tested positive for COVID-19 had visited a doctor twice or thrice before it was confirmed that they were infected.

Programme Leader (Infectious Diseases), Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang explains that general practitioners are sometimes unable to identify suspected cases on the first visit to the clinic because the initial symptoms of COVID-19 are similar to flu or the common cold.

“Without other indicators such as a recent travel history to mainland China or contact with other confirmed cases, it would not be easy for GPs to differentiate between the virus and other more common respiratory viral infections,” said Assoc Prof Hsu.

Patients who are suspected cases but test negative for the virus are recommended to stay at home to rest. Those who do not recover after a few days or start to feel worse should see a doctor again. Patients should wear a mask when going to the clinic, and if they need to go out for other reasons.

For the general public, wearing a mask is not necessary when you are well.

Wearing a mask is not the most important thing to do to keep the coronavirus at bay, reiterated Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, Director of Medical Services at the Ministry of Health (MOH).

This was in response to a letter of advice by four doctors that everyone should wear a mask when leaving home, regularly wash hands and reduce unnecessary mingling with others. The letter wrote that “if one faces a person and both parties are masked, it is considerably safer, constituting a two-barrier protection” and any mask is better protection than no mask. It concluded that if everyone wears masks and reduce mingling, “in two weeks, the worst could be over”.

Assoc Prof Hsu noted that while social distancing is a sound strategy to reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses, it is “highly unlikely that such measures will result in the worst being over in two weeks”.

“There is little evidence to show that wearing surgical or N95 masks in the community when well will protect the individual, much less home-made masks or scarves. They may instil a false sense of confidence, and deplete mask supplies unnecessarily.”

As of 12 February, there have been 50 cases of COVID-19 reported in Singapore, of which 15 have fully recovered.

Singapore is working with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop and manufacture a vaccine that can be used against the novel coronavirus. However, it would take some time before there is a vaccine that is commercially available, “probably at least a year”, said Assoc Prof Hsu.

“That’s because the vaccine needs to be safe, it needs to be proven to be effective. Even if this outbreak is contained, which we all hope it will be, it will still be nice to have a vaccine, because at this point we don’t know if it will come back again,” he said.

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(Header photo by Najeer Yusof/TODAY)