Face masks prevent COVID-19 from spreading: CECC official

ROC Central News Agency

05/02/2020 10:10 PM

Taipei, May 2 (CNA) Taiwan's relatively low COVID-19 transmission rate can be attributed to the fact that a majority of people in the country wear face masks in public, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) advisor Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said on Saturday.

The risk of catching or infecting others with the coronavirus disease can be greatly reduced if people habitually wear face masks, Chang said at a daily briefing in Taipei.

A healthy person is less likely to catch a respiratory infection simply by wearing a face mask, which typically filters out as much as 70-80 percent of aerosol particles, he said.

The same can be said for a sick person wearing one, which has proven to be an effective barrier to curb aerosol spread, he added.

It is for this reason that Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who also heads the CECC, keeps reminding the public to wear face masks especially in crowded places, the CECC official explained.

As of Saturday Taiwan has had a total of 432 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which only 55 have been classified as domestic.

(By Chen Wei-ting, Wu Hsin-yun and Ko Lin)

Enditem/AW