Masks Cut Covid Risk In Half, New Study Shows
NDTV
Donning a face mask more than halves the risk of getting Covid, according to a review of eight studies published in the British Medical Journal.
As Covid-19 makes a comeback in Europe, one study offers a reminder that simple measures like mask-wearing and hand-washing help to ward off the disease.
Donning a face mask more than halves the risk of getting Covid, according to a review of eight studies published in the British Medical Journal. So does hand-washing. Physical distancing, meantime, cuts the risk by a quarter.
The findings come amid evidence that vaccination efforts weren't enough to prevent a resurgence as temperatures drop and people crowd indoors, forcing countries including Austria and the Netherlands to introduce curbs.
"It is likely that further control of the Covid-19 pandemic depends not only on high vaccination coverage and its effectiveness but also on ongoing adherence to effective and sustainable public-health measures," authors including Stella Talic, the study's lead researcher and an epidemiologist at Monash University in Melbourne, said in the paper.