Could wearing goggles or glasses protect you from the coronavirus? What experts say
Face masks help protect against the spread of the coronavirus — but you also may want to think about your eyes, experts say.
Wearing goggles, face shields or another covering over the eyes also could help protect you from getting COVID-19, although it’s not a surefire guarantee, according to a study published Monday in The Lancet medical journal.
“Eye protection is often under-considered and not uniformly included in policies,” Dr. Derek Chu, a study co-author, told ABC News. “Goggles, face shields or even large eye glasses may be important in preventing droplet spread through the eyes as well as self inoculation via the hands.”
Results from the study, which received funding from the World Health Organization, suggest using eye protection, wearing face masks and keeping a distance from others could help reduce the risk of COVID-19 or similar infections.
But no form of “intervention, even when properly used, was associated with complete protection from infection,” results show.
The research was based off of “a systematic review of 172 observational studies in health-care and non-health-care settings across 16 countries and six continents; 44 comparative studies were included in a meta-analysis,” according to the study.
To come up with their findings, researchers say they went through a database from March 25 to May 3 to review studies of coronaviruses. The eye protection data was of “low” certainty, meaning the “true effect could be substantially different from the estimate of the effect,” according to the results.
Still, the findings show some parallels to what health experts have said.
“Corrective lenses or sunglasses can shield your eyes from infected respiratory droplets,” the American Academy of Ophthalmology wrote in an online post in May. “But keep in mind that they don’t provide 100% security. The virus can still reach your eyes from the exposed sides, tops and bottoms of your glasses.”
The academy says anyone who may have come in contact with a sick person may want to consider wearing goggles for more protection.
To help stop the spread of the coronavirus, health officials urge people to avoid touching their faces without washing their hands.
Though the virus mostly spreads from person to person, “it may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Could wearing goggles or glasses protect you from the coronavirus? What experts say."
