Wearing a face mask has become mandatory when going out in public. Besides hand washing and physical distancing, wearing a face mask is a preventive measure used to curb the spread of COVID-19. However, many people do not comply with the rules and have difficulties in wearing masks. This study aims to evaluate current knowledge on the importance of face masks and identify factors contributing to discomfort in wearing face masks. Using a Google form survey, the study was conducted among 155 medical students of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). Data revealed 99.4% of the participants agreed on the importance of wearing masks and 92.35% respondents mentioned compliance in wearing masks. However, only 63.9% reported feeling comfortable while wearing a surgical mask. Certain factors were found to contribute to the discomfort of wearing face masks, such as feeling hot (77.4%), excessive sweating (76.1%), hard to breathe (67.7%) and trapping of odours (67.1%). Most of the respondents (84.5%) agreed that a change or alteration could be made to the current face mask design to make it more comfortable. During this COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of wearing masks has been well-realized by society. However, there remain several challenges associated with wearing them. Therefore, inventors should strive towards the innovation of a more comfortable and easy-wearing mask in order to enhance better compliance among users.

The COVID-19 is difficult to contain due to its high transmissibility rate and a long incubation period of 5 to 14 days. Moreover, more than half of the infected patients were young and asymptomatic. Virus transmission through asymptomatic patients is a major challenge to disease containment. Due to limited treatment options, preventive measures play major role in controlling the disease spread. Gargling with antiseptic formulation may have potential role in eliminating the virus in the throat. Four commercially available mouthwash/gargle formulations were tested for virucidal activity against SARS-CoV-2 in both clean (0.3 g/l BSA) and dirty (0.3 g/l BSA + 3 mL/L human erythrocytes) conditions at time points 30 and 60 s. The virus was isolated and propagated in Vero E6 cells. The cytotoxicity of the products to the Vero E6 was evaluated by kill time assay based on the European Standard EN14476:2013/FprA1:2015 protocol. Virus titres were calculated as 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50/mL) using the Spearman-Karber method. A reduction in virus titer of 4 log10 corresponds to an inactivation of ≥ 99.99%. Formulations with cetylperidinium chloride, chlorhexidine and hexitidine achieved > 4 log10 reduction in viral titres when exposed within 30 s under both clean and dirty conditions. Thymol formulations achieved only 0.5 log10 reduction in viral titres. In addition, salt water was not proven effective. Gargle formulations with cetylperidinium chloride, chlorhexidine and hexetidine have great potential in reducing SAR-CoV-2 at the source of entry into the body, thus minimizing risk of transmission of COVID-19.