Businessman and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa has urged people to wear masks in the fight to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
The AU Special Envoy for COVID-19 wrote:
By now it should be clear to everybody that the most powerful tool to fight CoronaVirus infection is the humble Mask!
We have to wear Masks for the next 12 months, every day, in much the same way, we wear clothes.
They must become an essential part of our clothing, like underwear!
If you wear the same Mask every day, it will become smelly, and lose its real effectiveness.
Every person should have at least three masks, and change one every day.
Unless you work in a hospital, the type of Mask you need does not have to be made of any special material.
An old bed sheet can make great Masks. For Children old school uniforms are good Mask materials.
Putting on a Mask is bigger than washing hands, but together, Masks and regular washing of hands will stop the spread of Covid-19!
As Special Envoy I have now secured more than 200 million per month, of what are known as N-95 Masks, used by doctors and nurses. These are available at a price not exceeding $2 per Mask, on the platform for Medical Supplies, that I set up for African governments: www.AMSP.Africa
It is a not-for-profit platform owned by AfriEximbank and the Africa CDC (Africa Centres for Disease Control & Prevention).
