A NEW VECTOR Cleaning volunteers have reported finding more masks in beach areas, and disposed masks containing COVID-19 might become a new method of infection

Taipei Times
Date:  Mar 15, 2020
By: Lo Chi / Staff reporter

People who are caught littering used masks face a fine of up to NT$6,000, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday, as more masks are being found on beaches amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beach cleaning volunteers said they have found an increasing number of masks for adults and children in a variety of colors, Society of Wilderness chairwoman Liu Yueh-mei (劉月梅) said, calling on the government to increase public education and implement regulations about garbage disposal.

Mask littering pollutes the environment and threatens public health, as masks with nonwoven fabrics cannot naturally decompose, while used masks might carry the virus, Greenpeace Taiwan campaigner Chang Kai-ting (張凱婷) said.

As human-to-human transmission remains the primary method of infection for COVID-19, garbage bins that contain disposed masks in urban areas are more likely to become a vector of transmission than those at less populated seaside areas, National Taiwan University College of Public Health dean Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said.    [FULL  STORY]