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COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – A Danish study published Wednesday found that face masks provide the wearer with limited protection against COVID-19 infection, but said this should not be used to argue against their widespread use to prevent people from infect other people.
In the study, which was carried out in April and May when the Danish authorities did not recommend the use of masks, 6,024 adults were divided into two groups, one with a mask and the other a control group.
After a month, 1.8% of people wearing masks had been infected, while 2.1% of people in the control group had tested positive, Copenhagen University Hospital said in a press release.
“The study does not confirm the expected halving of the risk of infection for people who wear masks,” he said. “The results could indicate a more moderate degree of protection of 15-20%, however, the study could not rule out that the masks do not provide any protection.”
The findings are consistent with previous research. Health experts have long said that a mask provides only limited protection for the person wearing it, but can dramatically reduce the risk to others if the user is infected, even when showing no symptoms. Preventing the spread to others is known as source control.
The study findings “should not be used to conclude that a recommendation that everyone wear masks in the community would not be effective in reducing SARS-CoV-2 infections, because the trial did not evaluate the role of masks in controlling source of SARS- CoV-2 infection, “wrote the authors.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Edited by Catherine Evans)
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