Government has called for everyone to use face masks outside the confines of their homes, and has requested that members of the public stop using surgical masks and opt for cloth ones instead.

Dr Anban Pillay. acting director-general for national health insurance at the health department, said in a statement: “The public should not use surgical (medical) or N-95 respirator masks. Surgical masks and N-95 masks are critical supplies that must be reserved for health-care workers and other medical first responders. The public is strongly discouraged from using these masks.”

When announcing a relaxation of some lockdown measures last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa stressed that from May 1, masks would be a requirement for all, even for those who are not ill.

“The main benefit of everyone wearing a face mask is to reduce the amount of coronavirus (or influenza virus) coughed up by those with the infection, thereby reducing its spread through droplets,” Pillay said.

“Since some people with the coronavirus may not have symptoms or may not know they are infected, everyone should wear a face mask.”

The health ministry stressed that the use of a mask did not erase the other proposed prevention strategies of regular handwashing and sanitising, social distancing, and using the elbow to greet or cough or sneeze into.

It stressed that community members should keep their face masks clean through regular washing.