MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Face masks make compulsory return to some Uruguayan settings

Even people with no symptoms have been advised to cover their faces on public transport units

Effective Thursday, Uruguay's health authorities have reinstated the mandatory wear of face coverings in certain indoor settings, in light of an increasing number of cases of COVID-19, it was reported in Montevideo.

Masks are again mandatory in health care centers and recommended in public transport, also due to a growing number of influenza infections.

The Health Ministry has issued a statement establishing the mandatory use of masks in certain cases and highly recommended in others. “The portfolio understands it necessary to provide for the mandatory use of face mask in the following cases: People with respiratory symptoms who maintain contact with other people for the duration of such symptoms, until the diagnosis is established, health personnel with regular direct care to the public or patients following the recommendations of the Ministry.”

It is also mandatory for all “users and accompanying persons who enter and/or stay in a healthcare center, including providers and officials in charge of the care of vulnerable groups, care centers for people with functional dependency or other situations of similar characteristics” to wear a face mask.

The Health Ministry also provides for the highly recommended use of face masks for people who, without having symptoms, are users of public transport, at urban, suburban, interdepartmental, and international levels, among other cases.

Uruguay had lifted the sanitary emergency April 4, thus ending the compulsory use of face masks, which was nonetheless still recommended for healthcare personnel, transport, and closed environments with a high concentration of people.

Last week, the number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Uruguay doubled, although the number of people suffering from the malady decreased.

Between May 29 and June 4, 24 people with the disease died, compared to 11 deaths the previous week, which brings the number of fatalities in Uruguay since March 13, 2020, to 7,262 and the number of confirmed cases to 934,961.