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Billings doc: Avoid touching face during COVID-19 pandemic

Posted at 4:22 PM, Apr 06, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-06 18:22:35-04

Health officials have advised against touching your face without washing your hands, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Brad Fuller, a Billings physician, said that if we can avoid touching one of the three entry points on our face, then we could slow the spread of the virus.

“When we touch our eyes, our nose, or our mouth, those are portals of entry that that virus can enter, from just being on a dirty subject such as your finger or… what we call a fomite that carries that virus," said Fuller.

Fullers said that the best way to prevent this is to wash our hands and refrain from touching our faces.

When it comes to wearing a mask, Fuller believes that N95 and other forms of mask can help to lower the potential of spreading the virus.

“Other masks that we see people wearing or the idea of scarves… that actually helps prevent those people from giving the virus to others that might be compromised,” said Fuller.

He also believes that there is a bit of a benefit in preventing the inhalation of airborne particles while wearing these masks but, ideally, they are helping prevent the wearing from potentially infecting others.