THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) have warned that wearing face masks could become the new norm for humanity as the battle against coronavirus continues to rage.
Speaking on BBC's Today, the WHO's David Nabarro suggested that the virus will linger for longer than people are predicting, and that wearing protective equipment may well become engrained into society.
"It is about having a whole network at the local level of being able to defend against the disease," he said.
"It's like having Neighbourhood Health Watches everywhere so people with symptoms can get quick advice and then rapid ambulance help.
"The virus isn't going to go away and we don't know when we will have a vaccine. Yes, we will wear masks. Yes, there will have to be more physical distancing.
"We must all learn how to interrupt transmission. It is a revolution like when it was discovered dirty water bore cholera or like when we all learned about Aids and its relationship with sex.
"We changed, we adapted, we learned how to live with these new realities. We've got to learnt o live with the new reality of life with Covid-19."
Dr Nabarro went on to say that health workers, people with symptoms and people in frequent contact with others especially need to keep masks on.
"Some form of face protection is going to become the norm, not least to give people reassurance," he added.
