In Italy, the use of masks would have avoided up to 30,000 infections in the first wave of spring 2020: this is indicated by the mathematical study coordinated by the University of Padua and published in the journal Infectious Diseases.
The researchers used mathematical models to compare data from eight (demographically similar) Regions that had adopted different restriction measures in addition to those imposed at national level.
"We observed an exceptional correspondence between the national lockdown and the peak of the epidemic in late March, indicating that this measure was the main factor in stopping the spread of the virus," explains study coordinator Morten Gram Pedersen. associate professor at the Department of Information Engineering of the Padua University.
"Surprisingly - continues the expert - in some regions we have identified further drops in viral transmission in mid-April that correspond well with the supply of free masks and / or the obligation to use them. We have not seen a similar reduction in places where additional local interventions had been introduced ".
The researchers examined other possible elements that could have favored the decline in infections in April in these regions, including the weather conditions and the activities of people inferred from the data made public by Google: none of the hypotheses, however, was compatible.
"Several recent studies support the use of face masks and our work is in line with other recent studies conducted on a regional scale in Germany and the United States, which correlate the widespread use of face masks with a reduction in Covid-19 infection", Pedersen adds.
"In any case - adds the co-author of the study Matteo Meneghini - we underline that when the situation becomes critical, the masks alone are insufficient and should be used in addition to other containment measures, such as partial or total lockdowns, to contribute to the protection of public health ".
