Refusing to wear a face mask amid pandemic as bad as drink driving, leading scientist says

If everyone wears a mask, we protect ourselves and each other, reducing threat of Covid-19 transmission, new studies from US and UK show

Masks block virus particle dispersion, which is key when sick people show no symptoms yet spray droplets when talking and breathing

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A man wears a protective mask in Iztapalapa, Mexico City. A leading scientist says that refusing to wear a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic is as bad as drink driving. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:45pm, 9 Jul 2020Updated: 8:45pm, 9 Jul 2020

People who refuse to wear face masks during the coronavirus pandemic should be stigmatised the same as drink drivers, the president of Britain’s prestigious Royal Society says.

The comments from biologist Venki Ramakrishnan come as two new peer-reviewed studies show wearing face coverings may help significantly reduce the spread of viruses such as Covid-19.

“It used to be quite normal to have quite a few drinks and drive home, and it also used to be normal to drive without seat belts,” Ramakrishnan says.

“Today both of those would be considered antisocial, and not wearing face coverings in public should be regarded in the same way.”

A woman and a girl wear face masks as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus in Bogota, Colombia. Photo: AFP

Ramakrishnan stressed masks are only genuinely effective if worn by most people. “If all of us wear one, we protect each other and thereby ourselves, reducing transmission,” he says.

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