The United States’ top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci has said that people should wear googles for complete protection from Covid-19 as the virus can enter the body through any mucosal surface – including the mouth, nose or eyes.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Coronavirus is primarily contagious through respiratory droplets expelled when people cough or sneeze, but growing evidence suggests that droplets from just regular speaking or breathing may be able to spread the disease too.
These droplets can get into the eyes, too, according to Dr Fauci.
‘If you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it,’ Dr Fauci told ABC News in an Instagram Live interview.
According to Dr Fauci, viral particles on your hands won’t infect you through your skin. But touching your nose, mouth or eyes, can introduce the virus to cells it can invade.
“If you really want perfect protection [you need protection] of your mucosal surfaces – you mucosal surfaces in your mouth, your nose, but also in your eyes,’ said Dr Fauci.
‘Theoretically, you should protect all the mucosal surfaces, so if you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it,’ said Dr Fauci.
Dr Fauci also discussed the role of aerosols – a fine mist that can linger and travel further through the air – in coronavirus transmission.
‘We don’t know the relative role of aerosol [transmission]…we can assume it plays a role,’ he said.