By Sujeewa Thathsara

President of the Government Medical Officers’ Forum Dr Rukshan Bellana yesterday called on medical authorities to reconsider the mandatory health regulations for people to wear masks since such regulations may result in unforeseen complications for their respiratory systems.

“People have been wearing masks for nearly two years owing to regulations making it mandatory for them to wear them in public places. This could result in lack of oxygen intake because they are compelled to inhale what they exhale containing little oxygen. There could be possible respiratory complications. This matter has not been studied properly so responsible authorities should lax the regulations at least for the people who had obtained all the doses of vaccination including the booster dose. We have noticed that there is a surge of patients complaining faint and mild weakness and lethargy which are the symptoms of lack of oxygen intake. We know that almost all health workers have been fully vaccinated and they do not need to follow the mandatory regulation of wearing masks all the time,” Dr Bellana said.

Dr Bellana said that healthcare professionals in many other countries have reported side effects of prolonged use of personal protective equipment (PPE) when caring for COVID-19 patients. There are concerns into various adverse effects of prolonged mask use. “It has been observed that the prolonged use of N95 and surgical masks by healthcare professionals has caused adverse effects such as headaches, rash, acne, skin breakdown, and impaired cognition. Therefore we call on authorities to lax the regulations making it compulsory to wear masks for people,” Dr Bellana said.