COVID-19 Spread: Facebook, Instagram To Remind People To Wear Face Masks

According to health experts, the evidence is clear that wearing masks can help prevent the spread of novel coronavirus. Now, Facebook and Instagram will send alerts to users at the top of their feeds to encourage them to wear masks while out in public.

Facebook announced Thursday they were planning to roll out the new face mask alert for users in the United States along with links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website.

“Wear a Cloth Face Covering to Help Prevent the Spread of COVID-19. When in public, cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face covering. Learn more at cdc.gov.,” said the new alert.

The announcement followed the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the U.S., as several states are implementing regulations, including wearing face masks in public.

“With the rise in COVID-19 cases in the US, we’re putting an alert at the top of Facebook and Instagram to remind everyone to wear face coverings and find more prevention tips from the CDC in our COVID-19 Information Center,” said Facebook in a blog post.

This is the social media giant’s latest step it is taking to tackle the pandemic. When the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus infection a global health emergency earlier in January, Facebook removed misinformation pertaining to the outbreak from all of its platforms. And later in April, it started warning its users if they indulged in any kind of participation on harmful coronavirus-related posts that were marked to contain misinformation.

CDC strongly recommends wearing cloth face-covering in public, particularly when social distancing measures might be difficult to maintain. However, the CDC also warns face-covering shouldn’t be worn by children under 2 years of age or people with breathing difficulties and those who are unable to remove masks without assistance.

Cloth face masks can be a simple barrier against respiratory droplets traveling in the air and onto others. This method of source control is recommended based on what is known about respiratory droplets' role in the spread of COVID-19. Moreover, clinical and laboratory studies have shown that cloth face coverings help reduce the spray of droplets when worn.