Study suggests wearing face masks could have prevented thousands from COVID-19

Tens of thousands of coronavirus infection may have been prevented in areas at the epicenter of the global pandemic had people worn protective face masks, a new study suggests. In the study published in PNAS: The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, researchers said that wearing masks is integral in combating the spread of the coronavirus contagion that caused COVID-19 disease much more than the social distancing and stay-at-home orders. 

Based on the data accumulated prior to the use of the protective masks, the study’s projection figures of infections estimated that in New York City, as many as 66,000 people were saved from the contraction of the novel coronavirus from April 17 to May 9 due to use of masks, according to Renyi Zhang, Ph.D., of Texas A&M University in College Station, and colleagues. In Italy, the estimated 78,000 people were saved from the COVID-19 between April 6 to May 9, as per the data published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. 

This protective measure alone significantly reduced the number of infections, that is, by over 78,000 in Italy from April 6 to May 9 and over 66,000 in New York City from April 17 to May 9, researchers wrote in the study.

 

Further, they added, When mask-wearing went into effect in New York, the daily new infection rate fell by about 3% per day, adding, in the rest of the country, daily new infections continued to increase.

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Only face-covering prevents airborne transmission

As per the study, Direct contact precautions – social distancing, quarantine and isolation, and hand sanitizing went into effect prior to the mask-wearing protocol in Italy and New York City. However, only face-covering helped prevent airborne transmission, the researchers wrote in the published study. 

(All Image source: PNAS)

“Interhuman transmission has indicated a significant role of aerosols in the transmission of many respiratory viruses, including influenza virus, SARS-CoV-1, and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV),” the study mentioned. While the advice on the use of face masks was not issued until April 6, 2020, by the WHO, it was found that masks were not only important to prevent infected persons from the viral transmission, but majorly prevented uninfected persons from breathing virus-bearing aerosols, according to researchers.  

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(Image Credit: AP)