Wearing Face Mask Reduces Coronavirus Risk By 65%, Scientists Find

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Jul, 2020 ) :Researchers have found that wearing a face mask not only stops the coronavirus from spreading but significantly protects healthy people from contracting the infection.

A team from the University of California Davis Children's Hospital found that face masks reduced the risk of Covid-19 by 65 per cent while adhering to social distancing lessened the risk 90 per cent, Daily Mail reported.

"Everyone should wear a mask. People who say, 'I don't believe masks work', are ignoring scientific evidence. It's not a belief system. It's like saying, 'I don't believe in gravity'," Dr Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis Children's Hospital said.

Researchers said the coronavirus spreads through droplets expelled into the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes as well as from aerosol particles that are sprayed into air while speaking.

The droplets are about one-third the size of a human hair, and visible to the naked eye, while aerosol particles are one-onehundreth the size of a human hair and nearly impossible to see. Hence aerosol particles have the potential to transmit the virus from one person to another easily.

"Studies in laboratory conditions now show the virus stays alive in aerosol form with a half-life on the scale of hours. It persists in the air,' said Dr William Ristenpart, a professor of chemical engineering at UC Davis.

"That's why you want to be outdoors for any social situations if possible. The good airflow will disperse the virus. If you are indoors, think about opening the windows. You want as much fresh air as possible," Dr Ristenpart added.