Covid 19 coronavirus: People who wear glasses 'less likely' to catch virus

Sick of foggy lenses with your face mask? We've got some good news for you. Photo / Getty Images

Foggy lens are an annoying side-effect of the glasses and face mask combo but, if a new study is anything to go by, there might be a rewarding payoff.

People who wear glasses are less likely to contract coronavirus, a new study has found.

The study is the latest in a series of studies regarding Covid-19 and wearing glasses, showing that those who need spectacles may be less exposed to the virus, compared to those who don't wear glasses.

"If something lands in your eye, it can go through a duct that goes down into your nose and that's how it might infect you," Professor Yanneer Bar-Yam, of The New England Complex Systems Institute said, explaining how people who do not wear glasses are more exposed to the virus.

In the study, published this month in India, 304 Covid-19 patients were analysed. It found only 19 per cent of those infected with coronavirus wore glasses.

In India, about 40 per cent of the population wear glasses.

The study concluded that "the risk of Covid-19 was about two to three times less in the spectacles-wearing population than the population not wearing them".

"Probably one of the main pieces is that the air particles will get deposited on your glasses as well as you might not touch your eyes a little bit, but it's really important to know that this is in addition to wearing a mask," Professor Bar-Yam said.

According to the expert, the latest study mirrors a previous study conducted in China.

However, researchers warn that glasses are not "fool-proof protection" and goggles are even better when it comes to preventing any particle from reaching the eyes.

The expert also warns that people who wear glasses and may have visited places where they could have been exposed to the virus should wash the spectacles thoroughly as the virus particles can become lodged in the glasses.