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TOKYO: Japanese researchers showed that masks can offer protection against airborne coronavirus particles, but even professional-grade covers cannot completely eliminate the risk of contagion.
Scientists at the University of Tokyo built a safe chamber with facing mannequin heads. A head, equipped with a nebulizer, simulated coughing and expelled actual coronavirus particles.
The other mimicked natural respiration, with a collection chamber for viruses arriving through the respiratory tract.
A cotton mask reduced viral uptake by the receiving head by up to 40% compared to no mask. An N95 mask, used by medical professionals, blocked up to 90%. However, even when the N95 was taped to the face, some virus particles still crept in.
When a mask was placed on the coughing head, surgical and cotton masks blocked more than 50% of virus transmission.
“There was a synergistic effect when both the virus receptor and the virus spreader wore masks,” the researchers wrote in a study published Wednesday.
There has been a growing consensus among health experts that the Covid-19 virus can be spread through the air. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised their guide this month to say that the pathogen can linger in the air for hours.
Another team of Japanese researchers used supercomputer simulations to show that humidity can have a significant effect on the airborne dispersal of virus particles.
