Without barrier gestures or social restrictions, wearing a mask is not enough to protect against Covid-19.
- People who wear a mask without social restrictions or barrier gestures tend to contract Covid-19 more.
According to a new study published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, people wearing a mask contracted Sars-Cov-2 more, because they had more daily contact without barrier gestures than those who did not wear one. In addition, individuals wearing a mask also tended to see more people.
“The deceptive feeling of being protected”
Here, the main risk factor for transmission of the disease is not the absence of wearing a mask but the number of daily contacts of the participants with other adults. “When you wear a mask, you may have a deceptive sense of being protected and have more interactions with other people,” analysis Eline van den Broek-Altenburg, director of the study.
The public health implications of this research are clear: “it is essential to get the message across that people should wear a mask, but that it is not enough”, she continues. “That should go hand in hand with education that masks don’t give you a free pass to see as many people as you want. You should still strictly limit your contact,” she concludes.
No longer wearing fabric masks or homemade masks
To protect yourself more effectively, the High Council for Public Health (HCSP) has also just recommended that you no longer wear fabric masks or homemade masks. “On the occasion of the penetration in Europe of certain new variants (…) more transmissible, while the modes of transmission have not changed, the question arises of the category of masks that can be offered in the general population, Didier Lepelletier, co-chair of the HCSP’s Covid-19 working group, told BFM TV on Monday January 18.
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