People who wear glasses may be up to three times less likely to be infected with the coronavirus, a study from India suggests.
One way the virus can enter the body is by touching people’s eyes, nose, or mouth after coming into contact with it.
However, researchers in India say that spectacle wearers rub their eyes less and therefore have less risk of contracting Covid-19.
In a non-peer-reviewed study published on the medRxiv website, the researchers studied 304 people (223 men and 81 women) in a hospital in North India for two weeks last summer. The patients were aged between 10 and 80 years and all had reported Covid symptoms.
Of those, 19 percent said they usually wear glasses.
The researchers found that participants touched their face an average of 23 times an hour and their eyes an average of three times an hour.
They found that the risk of contracting Covid-19 was two to three times lower in spectacle wearers.
“Touching and rubbing the eyes with contaminated hands could be a major route of infection,” the report said.
“Long-term use of glasses can prevent repeated touching and rubbing of the eyes.”