Wearing masks have proven to be the most effective way to control the spread of COVID-19, according to a recent global study. While face masks have proven to limit the spread of the virus and contain the number of COVID-19 cases by 53 percent, social distancing and handwashing have also been important tools in the ongoing fight against the pandemic.

Speaking about the study, researchers have stated that the results have demonstrated the significance of continuing compliance with safety measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing and handwashing in reducing the spread of the virus, along with vaccination programmes undergoing across the world.

In the British Medical Journal, researchers wrote that the systematic review and meta-analysis of the study have confirmed that personal protective and social measures such as mask-wearing and physical distancing are directly associated with a decline in COVID-19 infections.

Notably, the UAE authorities have been maintaining safety measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing since the onset of the pandemic in April 2020.

Even as COVID-19 cases have been decreasing since October, UAE authorities have called on the public to continue to wear masks and follow safety measures to ensure the continuity of recovery of key sectors from the pandemic.

In a recent COVID-19 briefing, Dr Noura Al Ghaithi, official spokeswoman of the UAE Health Sector, stated that various preventive measures such as wearing masks, physical distancing, sanitising hands and surfaces have become the new lifestyle that we should become used to in the coming period.

"The importance of abiding by these measures has become a necessity, especially with the spread of the mutations that might constitute a risk for some," she added.

In September, UAE authorities eased some rules related to the use of face masks in various emirates. Earlier, all community members were required to wear masks at almost all places outside their homes. With the new rules, children under the age of 6 and other relevant categories are exempted from following the preventive measure.

As of late September, people were no longer required to wear masks while exercising outside, at the beach or by the pool. Masks wearing was exempted in a car with people from the same household; for people alone in an indoor place; in a barber shop or salon as well as medical centres while undergoing diagnosis and treatment.

These measures are applicable to all emirates except for Dubai, which has its own crisis committee.

A number of experts have already underlined the significance of wearing face masks in slowing the spread of the pandemic, noting that the virus that causes COVID-19 is airborne.

Last year, a group of over 200 aerosol biologists and other experts wrote a letter to the World Health Organisation to call for greater recognition of the role of aerosol transmission in the spread of COVID-19.

Interestingly, in May 2021, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance and confirmed that Coronavirus is airborne. It can spread through tiny particles present in the air for hours. Later in July, the WHO noted that the virus that causes COVID-19 may spread through the air.

The meta-analysis of effectiveness of wearing face masks against COVID-19 has taken the results of at least eight studies conducted around the world.

“Six studies with a total of 2,627 people with Covid-19 and 389,228 participants were included in the analysis examining the effect of mask-wearing on incidence of Covid-19. Overall pooled analysis showed a 53 per cent reduction in Covid-19 incidence," researchers said in their report.

Meanwhile, physical distancing helped in limiting the presence of COVID-19 by 25 percent, along with handwashing that led to a 53 percent reduction of virus transmission.

Researchers added that analysis of other measures such as quarantine, isolation, lockdowns and closures of schools and offices was not possible due to possible differences in the way the studies were conducted across several regions.