Experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of masks to prevent covid-19.

Two mannequin heads were placed face to face inside a display case, one of them with a nebulizer discharging the virus and the other equipped with a ventilator simulating human respiration.

TOKYO, Japan.- A team from the University of Tokyo has demonstrated with an experiment how face masks can prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, although with somewhat less protection in the case of cloth versus surgical ones.

Yoshihiro Kawaoka, of the Institute of Medical Sciences of the University of Tokyo, told the public television station NHK, there have been no previous similar experiments working with real viruses.

The test was carried out with a SARS-CoV-2 virus infection simulator using two mannequin heads placed face to face inside a display case, one of them with a nebulizer discharging the virus and the other equipped with a ventilator imitating human respiration.

The emitter uncovered that the recipient protected with a cloth mask had a 20-40% reduction in virus uptake and 47-50% with a regular surgical mask.

In contrast, with a properly placed N95, the reduction was between 79 and 90%.

When the sender was fitted with a disposable cloth or surgical mask, the receiver’s contagion was reduced by more than 70% in both cases, while with the N95 adequately placed, it was almost 100%.

In any case, Kawaoka, head of the team that experimented, warned that wearing masks does not entirely prevent infection with the virus.

“The important thing is not to rely exclusively on masks,” he added.