Supermarket customers in Austria are now given protective masks at the entrance to their shops. Apparently there is hardly any scientific evidence regarding the effect of such a measure. A team of authors from the Department of Public Health at Harvard Medical School (Boston / USA) wrote a rather critical statement in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
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Masks can remind “of the importance of social distance”
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“We know that wearing protective masks outside of health facilities is little protection. If there is any protective effect, health authorities define significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within a distance of 1.8 meters for at least a few minutes (some say more than ten minutes or even 30 minutes). The ‘chance’ to get Covid-19 through a more casual interaction in public space is therefore minimal, “write Michael Klompas and his co-authors in the most respected medical Trade magazine in the world.
In healthcare institutions, the situation can of course be different, the experts argue. But even then it was not so clear whether the masks would provide additional protection if, for example, the wearer had no direct contact with people with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2. If there were contact with a patient who was undetected, a mask alone would have little effect. In any case, they are not a panacea.
The scientists, on the other hand, cite psychological effects that could have a benefit: “Masks are visible signs of the presence of a widespread invisible pathogen and can remind people of the importance of social distance and other measures to control the spread.”
(APA / red, photo: APA / APA (AFP))
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