How effective is the use of mask in Corona?

The importance of the mask in our lives is understood in the time of coronavirus. Even those who do not wear masks have become accustomed to wearing masks to prevent the spread of the virus. However, a survey in Bangladesh has shown how effective the mask is in preventing coronavirus infection.

How effective is the use of mask in Corona?

The survey was recently conducted by Jason Abalak and Mushfiqur Mubarak of the Yale School of Management in the United States. Mubarak and Abalak conducted the survey in collaboration with the Innovations for Poverty Action and Scholars, a research team from several universities, including the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University.

 

According to the survey, more than 340,000 people from 600 villages in Bangladesh took part in it. According to the survey, the use of masks has reduced the infection of Kovid-19 'a lot'. At the same time, symptomatic infections in the elderly have been significantly reduced due to the awareness campaign for wearing masks.

According to the survey conducted last April, the villages were divided into two parts. In one section there were 1 lakh 78 thousand people who have been encouraged to wear masks since November last year. Four types of 'integrated' initiatives were taken to raise awareness, including support from local leadership and the promotion of field monitoring teams. Participants in this section of the survey are called 'targeted groups'.

In the other part, there were 1 lakh 63 thousand people. They are only under observation. No awareness activities were conducted there. The participants in this section of the survey are called the 'Control Group'. 

According to the results of the first phase of the survey, the use of masks in the villages of the targeted group has increased to 42 percent as a result of the 'integrated' initiative, while the rate of use of masks in the villages of the control group is 13 percent.

 

According to the results of the second part, the researchers conducted a survey on the symptoms of Kovid-19 in the villages of 'Targeted' and 'Control'. Blood samples were taken from those who had symptoms and antibodies to Covid-19 were tested.

The survey found that the number of symptomatic infections was 9.3 percent lower in the targeted villages where the mask-wearing campaign was conducted than in the villages in the control group. And in the villages where surgical masks have been distributed instead of cloth masks, better results have been obtained. 

In addition, the overall infection rate in those areas was 11 percent lower than in the control group. Among 50-60-year-olds, it is 23 percent less and in 60-year-olds it is 35 percent less.

"If our report says that the use of masks can only reduce infections by 10 percent, that would be a big mistake," Jason Abalak told reporters. We believe that the mask is a very powerful weapon in reducing the symptoms of symptomatic covid infection and especially in reducing the risk of infection in persons with serious illness and death. " 

Mushfiqur Mubarak told the media: "It is the exact opposite of what was expected. Our explanation is that when you start talking about masks, people will start to value everything related to Kovid, including maintaining distance. ”

 

According to the survey report, the researchers will conduct some more surveys on the results obtained. One of which is to see if the use of a mask reduces the level of severity of the infection without symptoms.

Other studies will look at ways to encourage people to get vaccinated as coronavirus vaccines increase availability in developing countries like Bangladesh.

Mubarak said, "The same group that we have set up as a model for how to increase the use of masks is now trying to come up with an effective model of the last step in vaccinating people in developing countries."

"It is possible for us to increase the use of masks at a lower cost, and this will significantly reduce the incidence of covid infections, especially among older people, which means it will save lives," he said. Increasing the use of masks to prevent infection will not be too expensive, which will actually save lives at a very low cost. ”