Personal care -> Health care -> SARS -> Reusing masks

Reusing masks
When you reach home and you want to remove the mask, put it in a paper bag and hang the bag in the shelf or some where so that the mask will not touch other objects in your environment, but can be allowed to be reused since it is thought that the virus will die by 6 hours. (this is a thought but not a fact) so unless you have a good supply of mask that you can change daily, what you can do is to change the mask when it is damaged, you feel breathless when breathing through it.

Properly dispose the mask.

Source: The above is extract from a letter from Emily Hung Chi Wan 0710 a doctor in the Prince of Wales Hospital, working in the Department of Paediatics

我昨天與一名讀醫、現於威院當研究員的朋友通電，談到把用過的外科／手術用口罩放入膠袋（之後再用），她表示這不妥當，因為那些細菌暴露在空氣中３至６小時（眾說紛紜）慢慢乾後才有機會死亡，若放入膠袋「焗」著，保持著濕度，那些細菌不但死不去，更會滋生，所以比較好的方法是放入信封或紙袋。

放入紙袋時亦要相當小心，因為口罩及我們的手均可能沾有細菌，脫下時要盡量避免觸及口罩貼面那邊，小心對摺（口罩底及面不要接觸）後放入信封。

另外，也許你們也知道戴上口罩後不可經常說話，因我們的唾液也有細菌（雖非致命），沾滿在口罩上也不衛生。而外科／手術用口罩若不停使用，時效為４小時。

你們也可考慮買些含酒精成分的濕紙巾，在不方便洗手時使用。

小心保重身體。