Illustration of surgical masks. – Nicolas Datiche / SIPA
Hamster tests reveal that the use of masks significantly reduces the spread of coronavirus, experts from the University of
Hong Kong. This research is among the first to study whether wearing a mask can prevent symptomatic or asymptomatic carriers of the virus
Covid-19 to infect other people.
Led by Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, a recognized coronavirus expert, the researchers placed cages containing previously infected hamsters close to those of healthy animals. Surgical masks were placed between the two cages, with an air flow from the cage of sick animals to that of healthy animals. The results showed that the transmission of the virus was reduced by more than 60% when the masks were in place. Two-thirds of healthy hamsters were infected within a week when the masks were not in place. The infection rate fell to just over 15% when the masks were placed on the cage of infected animals and to 35% when they were placed on the cage of healthy hamsters.
“The universal wearing of the mask is really important”
“It is very clear that using masks on infected subjects […] is more important than anything else, “Yuen Kwok-yung told reporters. “We now know that a large proportion of infected people do not have symptoms, so universal wearing of the mask is really important,” he added. Professor Yuen is one of the micro-biologists who discovered the SARS virus when it first appeared in 2003 and killed some 300 people in Hong Kong. He pleaded early on in favor of people wearing the mask.
Four months after the first cases of Covid-19 appeared in China, Hong Kong managed to limit the number of cases to one thousand, who only killed four. Experts believe the use of masks and extensive testing and tracing campaigns are the reasons for this success, in a city of 7.5 million people neighboring China.
