Each face shield —which is now mandatory for use at markets, arcades, and shopping centers— minimizes the spread of COVID-19 at places where people come very close to one another,
"The problem is that not everyone does it. We see a lot of people on the streets wearing face masks improperly or people using cloth masks (whose protection range is very low) (...) that means, the measures to prevent transmission are not yet fulfilled on a large scale; that's the problem," she said in remarks to ATV Noticias.
The physician said that —for this reason— the Government has ordered the use of facial protection, as an additional measure to face masks at places such as shopping centers, markets, supermarkets, arcades, and department stores.
Solari explained that —for weeks— the INS already has a lot of evidence that the virus is not only transmitted through respiratory droplets but also aerosols (airborne transmission).
It must be noted that when people infected with COVID-19 cough, sneeze, sing, speak or breathe, they produce large or small respiratory droplets.
Instead, it is called airborne transmission when those respiratory particles or droplets remain suspended in the air for minutes or hours.
However, there is still the transmission by droplets which do not reach more than two meters and pass between people who are very close to one another as usually happens at markets or crowded places.
Therefore, she said, each face shield prevents transmission by droplets in crowded places, where people unfortunately do not comply with biosafety measures.
In the sense, it is showing a prolonged plateau.