Recently, in light of the characteristics of the COVID-19 Delta variant and the epidemiological features of different occupations, the following guidelines have been issued to inform the public and key occupational groups of the correct and effective ways of wearing masks for better protection.

Ⅰ.The general public

A.Scenarios and Situations Requiring Masks

1. Staying in shopping malls, supermarkets, cinemas, conference venues, exhibition halls, airports, docks, public areas of hotels and other indoor crowded places.

2. Taking elevators and public transport vehicles such as planes, trains, ships, long-distance buses, subway, buses, etc.

3. Staying in crowded open-air places like plazas, theaters, and parks.

4. Going to hospitals either on your own or accompanying others, or when undergoing health checks like having the temperature taken, the health code checked, and travel history registered.

5. Having symptoms such as nasal or throat discomfort, cough, sneeze or fever.

6. Staying in restaurants or canteens while not eating.

B.Mask selection and use notes

The correct use, storage and cleaning of masks are the key to maintaining their effectiveness. It is recommended that the public choose disposable medical masks, medical surgical masks or masks with better protection performance, and abide by the following regulations:

1. Cover your nose and mouth and secure it under your chin. Press the nose wire to fit snugly against the sides of your face;

2. Masks need to be replaced in time when dirty, deformed, damaged or smelled peculiar, and the cumulative wearing time of each mask should not exceed 8 hours;

3. It is not recommended to reuse masks that have been used on cross-regional public transportation or in hospitals and other critical places;

4. Masks that need to be reused should be hung in a clean, dry and ventilated place when not in use;

5. If you feel stuffy, short of breath and other discomforts while wearing a mask, you should go to an open and ventilated place to remove the mask immediately;

6. Bring spare masks when going out and store them in the original packaging bag or clean storage bag to avoid being squeezed and deformed. Waste masks are classified as other garbage for disposal;

7. It is recommended that households keep a small amount of particulate-blocking masks* and medical protective masks in reserve.

Ⅱ.Key Occupational Gr-

oups

A.Occupations at high risk of being infected by inbound cases and contamination transmission

1. Occupational Category

Personnel of Cross-border truck, railway transportation, and of loading docks;

Personnel of cross-border cold-chain transportation including frozen food processing, storage, loading, unloading and transportation;

Pilots, attendants, train and car drivers, cleaners, and porters of inbound flights, railways, and cars;

Customs staff supervising the entry and exit of transport vehicles, goods, delivery packages, etc.;

Cleaners for the airport and flights, and ground crew like porters.

2. Mask Requirement

Note: Wear a particulate-blocking mask throughout the working hours.

B.Personnel of medical institutions

1. Occupational Category

Personnel of general contact,such as medical staff working at outpatient hall, general ward and pharmacies, security guards, and staff for registration, medical guidance and fees charging;

Staff dealing with potential pollutants including cleaners, carers, plumbers and laboratory workers;

Staff dealing with patients or the infected cases including personnel working at fever clinics and designated isolation wards and collecting nasopharyngeal swab samples.

2. Mask Requirement

During work hours, personnel of general contact should wear a medical surgical mask or better masks. Staff dealing with the potential pollutants should wear a particulate-blocking protection mask throughout the working hours. Staff dealing with patients or the infected cases must wear a medical protective mask all the time.

C.Service Employees Wor-

king in Public Places

1. Occupational Category

Flight attendants, security inspectors, salespeople, ticket sellers, police, chefs, hotel and restaurant waiters, couriers, cargo distributors, janitors, security guards, cleaners, etc.

2. Mask Requirement

Wear a medical surgical mask or a mask with even higher protecti level throughout the working hours.

D.Important notes

1. Each unit with the above-mentioned personnel shall provide sufficient masks that can meet the work needs and relevant requirements

2. Each unit shall establish a strict supervision system and incorporate the wearing of masks into the rules and quality management system. Establish a supervision mechanism and set up a complaint telephone line to detect problems in time and implement rectification.

3. Each unit shall set up an independent waste mask storage device. Discarded masks from medical institutions shall be treated as medical wastes.

Note: * particulate-blocking mask refers to a mask product that have no exhalation valve and meet the provisions of "disposable mask" which are in the standard category of respiratory protection self-priming filter particulate-blocking respirator (GB2626-2019). If there are special type requirements, the type and filter grade shall be marked in brackets, such as "particulate-blocking mask (KN95)". If not marked, it refers to all disposable masks.