From regularly washing your hands to wearing a face mask, there are several things you can do to reduce your risk of coronavirus.
Now, a new study claims that wearing glasses can also lower your risk of Covid-19.
Researchers from Suizhou Zengdu Hospital in Suizhou, China, say that the use of eye protection might offer some degree of protection from Covid-19.
In the study, the team analysed 276 coronavirus patients at a hospital in China’s Hubei province.
They found that only 6% wore glasses for more than eight hours a day.
In comparison, 31.5% of the general population in Hubei wear glasses for the same time, indicating that wearing glasses could be protective against the virus.
In the study, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, the researchers, led by Weibiao Zeng, said: “In this cohort study of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Suizhou, China, the proportion of inpatients with COVID-19 who wore glasses for extended daily periods (>8 h/d) was smaller than that in the general population, suggesting that daily wearers of eyeglasses may be less susceptible to COVID-19.”
However, other experts have warned that the findings should be taken with a pinch of salt.
In an editorial accompanying the study, Dr Lisa Maragakis, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, explained that the study has a number of limitations.
This includes the fact that it only included patients from one hospital, and the sample size was small.
Dr Maragakis called for more studies to confirm the findings and to determine "whether there is any incremental benefit to wearing eyeglasses or other forms of eye protection in public settings, in addition to wearing a mask and physical distancing, to reduce the risk of acquiring [COVID-19]."
