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Updated: Apr 06, 2020 17:03 IST

Wearing surgical masks in public spaces may help limit the transmission of viruses, including the one that causes coronavirus disease or Covid-19, according to a new study, the latest in a growing body of research in favour of masks to stop the deadly contagion.

The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine on Saturday days after a high-level US scientific panel said the Sars-Cov-2 virus that caused Covid-19 is airborne and can be spread through speech or breathing – contradicting previously held belief that it spreads largely through close contact.

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Sars-Cov-2 is part of the coronavirus family, which also caused the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic.

Scientists at the University of Maryland found in laboratory experiments that the masks “significantly” reduced the amounts of airborne viruses from infected patients.

Coronavirus was detected in respiratory droplets and aerosols in 3 of 10 and 4 of 10 of the samples collected without face masks, respectively but did not detect any in respiratory droplets or aerosols collected from participants wearing face masks.

Donald Milton, one of the authors of the paper, cautioned that the results merely suggested that surgical masks may only limit the extent of transmission and not protect wearers from infection.

“In normal times we’d say that if it wasn’t shown statistically significant or the effective in real-world studies, we don’t recommend it,” he said. “But in the middle of a pandemic, we’re desperate. The thinking is that even if it cuts down transmission a little bit, it’s worth trying.”