The Of?ce of the Principal Scienti?c Advisor to Govt. of India has issued a detailed manual on homemade masks for curbing the spread of Coronavirus. Quoting the World Health Organization, the manual states that masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water. If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.<br />'' <br />''On why one should wear a mask, it says that COVID-19 virus spreads easily from person to person contact. Virus carrying droplets dry fast enough to form droplet nuclei and remain airborne eventually landing on different surfaces.<br />'' <br />''SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been detected in aerosols for up to three hours and on plastic and stainless steel surfaces for up to three days.<br />'' <br />''The manual says that masks lower the chances of coronavirus entering the respiratory system through droplets still in the air from an infected person.<br />'' <br />''It says that reducing the chances of inhaling the virus by wearing a protective mask, that is cleaned thoroughly using a combination of approaches that use Heat, UV light, water, soap and alcohol, will be vital to stopping its spread.<br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">The proposed guide is meant to provide a simple outline of best practices to make, use and reuse masks to enable NGOs and individuals to self-create such masks and accelerate widespread adoption of masks across India.</span><br />