Indoor No-Mask Doubles Risk of COVID-19 Infection

(Photo by Getty Images)

[Asia Economy Senior Reporter Jinsoo Lee] People who do not wear masks indoors have been found to have twice the risk of COVID-19 infection compared to those who always wear masks.

The British daily Daily Mail recently reported this, citing an analysis by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), adding that people who sometimes wear masks indoors have a 33% higher risk of COVID-19 infection.

Experts argue that masks help prevent virus spread by filtering very small droplets.

ONS analyzed data from 110,000 people who were tested for COVID-19 between August 29 and September 11. The results showed that those who reported never wearing masks indoors had up to a 98% higher risk of COVID-19 infection compared to those who always wore masks. Those who reported wearing masks occasionally had a 33% higher risk.

The infection rate among those who always wore masks was 0.9%, while it was 1.8% for those who never wore masks, and 1.1% for those who wore masks occasionally.

Combining laboratory test results and observational studies, it was found that when an infected person wears a mask, up to 80% of the virus emitted into the air can be blocked. The effect of blocking virus inhalation reaches 50%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.