06/14/2020
By Patty Winsa
Data Reporter
Sat., June 13, 2020
Wearing a mask is the most effective way to prevent transmission of the coronavirus in public settings, and together with other measures such as social distancing and contact tracing “represents the most likely fighting opportunity to stop the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to a new study by a team of U.S. researchers.
“Other mitigation measures, such as social distancing implemented in the United States, are insufficient by themselves in protecting the public,” they wrote.
The study — by experts from Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin, University of California and California Institute of Technology — compared transmission of the virus and preventative measures in New York City and Italy, where mask-wearing became mandatory part way through the pandemic.
They found that after masks were required, New York reduced infections by 66,000 from April 17 to May 9. In Italy, they were reduced by 78,000 from April 6 to May 9.
“What we believe is that if you impose the use of face masks and you do it properly, it is potentially a way to control the pandemic,” said Mario Molina, a distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, who shared the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1995.
In charting the number of cases in New York City and Italy over time, Molina said the line was headed straight up until it began to bend on the exact day that mandatory mask policies came into effect.
“It is extremely clear that it is much more important to make the use of masks mandatory than just isolating and social distancing, (because) you can decrease cases much more efficiently,” Molina said.
Unlike social distancing, masks protect against inhaling droplets as well as virus-bearing aerosols, which can hang in the air for hours, added Molina, lead author of the study along with Renyi Zhang, a distinguished professor in atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M.
Read full article:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/06/13/the-most-effective-weapon-in-the-war-on-covid-19-is-as-plain-as-the-mask-on-your-face-us-researchers-find.html
