Protect your neighbor
Brazilian scientists have proven the effectiveness of masks against coronavirus
The use of medical masks helps to reduce the number of exhaled coronavirus particles by a thousand times. This conclusion was reached by doctors from Brazil under the leadership of Marco Horta from the Osvaldo Cruz Institute, who have been engaged in a scientific experiment for several months, the medRxiv portal reports (Mello et al., Effectiveness of Face Masks in Blocking the Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: a Preliminary Evaluation of Masks Used by SARS-CoV-2-Infected Individuals).
"The debate about whether masks can stop the transmission of coronavirus has been going on for many months. However, for some reason, no one has tested their effectiveness on real patients. Our experiment showed that masks reduce the number of SARS-CoV-2 particles that patients exhale by about three orders of magnitude," the researchers noted.
45 people took part in the experiment, some of whom were infected with coronavirus. Scientists in a special laboratory took smears from the outer and inner surfaces of masks.
The analysis showed that there were practically no traces of coronavirus RNA on the outer surface of the mask, even in cases when the patient suffered from an obvious form of COVID-19. Also, the protective agent reduced the number of coronavirus particles in the exhaled air by three orders of magnitude.
Thus, according to scientists, masks significantly slow down the spread of the coronavirus and play an important role in containing the pandemic.
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