Good News: Your Eyeglasses Are Helping Protect You From Coronavirus

We all know that washing our hands, social distancing, and wearing masks help stop the spread of coronavirus. But apparently, so is wearing standard eyeglasses.

Per the New York Post, "A new study by Chinese researchers suggests that people who wear eyeglasses for extended daily periods may be less susceptible to COVID-19."

Researchers from The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University in China explain that 80 percent of China's population has myopia (nearsightedness). And they state, "Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan in December 2019, we observed that few patients with eyeglasses were admitted in the hospital ward."

For research, 276 patients infected with the virus were studied. Thirty patients (11 percent) wore eyeglasses, and according to the study, "The myopia rate of 31.5 percent is higher than the 5.8 percent among our patients with COVID-19."

They add that eyeglasses discourage wearers from touching their eyes and potentially transferring the virus."For daily wearers of eyeglasses, who usually wear eyeglasses on social occasions, wearing eyeglasses may become a protective factor, reducing the risk of virus transfer to the eyes and leading to long-term daily wearers of eyeglasses being rarely infected with COVID-19."

The research author lastly added, "These findings suggest that the eye may be an important infection route for COVID-19 and more attention should be paid to preventive measures such as frequent hand washing and avoiding touching the eyes."