The use of masks reduces infections by 53%, according to a complete analysis of studies carried out to date.
Do you wear a seatbelt in your car? For most people who drive, the answer is obvious. Seat belts are known to save lives. When used correctly, wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of fatal injuries to car front seat occupants by 45% and the risk of other injuries by 50%.
So, do seat belts work? It could be argued that seat belts do not 100% protect occupants from possible harm in the event of an accident and therefore “does not work”. But seat belts “work” to reduce the chances of death in an accident and also to reduce the severity of injuries.
Likewise, the use of masks is one of the most effective measures to prevent COVID-19, reducing the incidence of the disease by 53%, according to a review of published research until the date.
Researchers at Monash University in Australia conducted a meta-analysis with data from 72 studies to assess the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions to contain the virus. The masks were the winners, well above hand washing (not very expressive due to the few studies on the subject) and the social distance, which only reduces the risk by 25%.
Masks do not provide complete protection against the virus, nor do they completely prevent its transmission. But by the same token, seat belts don’t make us invulnerable. Motorcycle clothing protections do not prevent all accident deaths. Life jackets do not prevent all the consequences of death when someone falls overboard. However, all of these measures are tremendously effective in one thing: they make it harder for people to die or be seriously injured.
Insinuating that “masks don’t work” because they don’t offer full protection shows enormous irresponsibility, even more so when they’re proven safe, and when in a country like Germany it hits the fourth wave of the pandemic “with all its force.’, How said Chancellor Angela Merkel Europe’s richest country is heading into a dire emergency, with hospitals already struggling to find space for patients.
Maybe it’s time to see the masks for what they are: a tool to reduce the worst consequences of the virus, and accept that this is a lot.
REFERENCE
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https://www.quo.es/salud/coronavirus/q2102744093/humedad-mascarillas-coronavirus/
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Photo: Xavier Donat