Southeast European country Croatia has made wearing face masks in most of its closed public spaces from next week as the number of COVID-19 cases rise.
The national civil protection directorate mandated that from tomorrow, face masks will be a must for both employees and clients in shops, and also for employees in bars, restaurants and other places where there is close contact with customers.
Even though there have been several studies in recent months regarding the possibilities of coronavirus spread through the air which is a highly likely scenario in an unprotected indoor public environment, it was only last week that WHO acknowledged the possibility based on an updated scientific brief.
The Organization issued new guidance after acknowledging outbreak reports in indoor crowded spaces indicating the likelihood of transmission of aerosols, such as in restaurants or exercise classes, but stopped at fully agreeing that the virus spreads through the air.
Experts said that while both of the changes made in the brief have been long overdue, they were not as comprehensive as they had hoped.
The acknowledgment from WHO follows an open letter written by more than 200 scientists urging the global body to update its guidelines on how the respiratory disease spreads to include transmission of aerosols.
