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People Who Wear Glasses Could Be Three Times Less Likely To Catch Covid-19, Study Suggests

People Who Wear Glasses Could Be Three Times Less Likely To Catch Covid-19, Study Suggests

A new study suggests it could be because glasses wearers touch their eyes less

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A new study has found that people who wear glasses were as much as three times less likely to catch the coronavirus.

The virus can enter the body when people touch their eyes, nose or mouth after they come into contact with it.

But the study, which was published on medRxiv and is yet to be peer reviewed, suggests that those who wear glasses are less likely to rub their eyes and are therefore less likely to contract it that way.

PA

The researchers, from India, looked at 304 patients at a hospital over two weeks in summer 2020 and found that on average people touched their faces 23 times an hour and their eyes three times an hour.

The study's lead researcher Amit Kumar Saxena wrote: "Transmission occurs by touching the face, nose, mouth and eyes.

"Touching one's nose and mouth is significantly reduced when wearing a face mask properly. But wearing a face mask does not protect the eyes.

"Touching and rubbing of the eyes with contaminated hands may be a significant route of infection for the virus.

"The risk of Covid-19 was two to three times less in the spectacles-wearing population than the population not using spectacles.

"This might be due to less touching and rubbing of eyes while wearing spectacles.

"The protective role of spectacles was found statistically significant."

However, if you are a glasses wearer you may have realised that glasses and face masks are not a match made in Heaven.

Thankfully, an optician from Scotland shared his top tips on how to keep your glasses from steaming up when wearing a mask.

Gordon Kyle from Miller and McClure Opticians in Paisley, shared a clip in which he explained 'there's a few things to think about' when it comes to avoiding steaming up your lenses.

First off, you can wear your glasses on top of your mask, to form a seal. This will keep the mask tight and in place on your face, meaning there's less air coming up through the top to fog up your specs.

He also suggests lining the top of the mask with some tissue paper before you pop it on, which stops the lenses from misting up.

And finally, he recommends tying a couple of knots in the strings holding your mask - to make it have a tighter fit.

Featured Image Credit: Pixabay