No proof eyeglasses protect against Covid-19: Health experts

KABUL (Pajhwok): As rumored on social media, the efficiency of eyeglasses for protection against Covid-19 infection has not been proven, health experts say.

Some people wear glasses for adjusting their eye vision but some others mostly youths use glasses for fashion.

Rumors:

A Facebook page named AyaEdanistid (Do you know?) in a post said that a study by Indian experts showed glasses could protect a person against Covid-19 infection three times more than those who do not wear it.

The page says the study covered 304 people who used glasses and aged between 10 to 80 years.

These experts found that permanent or long-term use of glasses may discourage someone from touching their eyes which would also prevent infection by Covid-19 through eyes, the source said.

Manoto Television, another Facebook page in Farsi language, also published the same post and said, “Indian researchers have studied 300 people who used glasses and found that they were less likely to infect by Covid-19 as they rarely touched their eyes.”

Fact checking:

Health experts say it has not been proven so far that eyeglasses could be effective for reducing the chance of infection by Covid-19 or preventing the virus from infecting someone.

Storai, a resident of Herat province, also uses glasses but rejects the glasses protect against Covid-19. She said that she used glasses for safety of her eyes and it was not helpful in stopping coronavirus from infecting her.

She called rumors about the efficiency of glasses as lies and said that she was infected by Covid-19 three times despite using the eyeglasses.

Dr. HashmatullahFaizi, in charge of ICU in Afghan-Japan Hospital in Kabul also said that using glasses was not effective in preventing Covid-19 infection.

He said that the virus infected someone by staying close to an infected person, touching polluted area as well as touching eyes, nose and mouth.

Using a handkerchief during sneezing, avoiding body touch with dirty hands and staying away from infected people would reduce the chance of infection, he said.

HakimullahSaleh, former head of Afghan-Japan Hospital, said that efficiency of glasses in protection against Covid-19 infection had not been proven so far.

Medical experts say that prevention of Covid-19 infection requires important guidelines before using any tools.

Both the sources asked people to regularly wash their hands, use masks, disinfect living places and observe social distance for prevention of Covid-19 infection.

Dr. MirwaisAlizai, deputy spokesman of the Ministry of Public Health also said that glasses were not proven to be effective in prevention of Covid-19 infection. He said that prevention of virus infection had its own guidelines. He termed rumors in social media as baseless.

Alizai asked people to follow health guidelines such as observing distance, using mask, washing their hands and disinfecting their living places to prevent spread of Covid-19.

Outcome: Social media users say that using glasses can be effective in preventing Covid-19 infection but health experts say that using glasses have not been proven to be effective in preventing infection by the virus.

Verdict: Using glasses for protection against Covid-19 has not been proven scientifically.

Mds/ma

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“This Investigative Report was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Pajhwok and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.”

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