A recent American study showed that two employees of a dressing salon infected with the emerging coronavirus did not transmit the infection to any of the 140 clients within a few days after they put a muzzle in their dealings with customers.
The results of this study, conducted by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are aimed at promoting the widespread use of respirators to protect against the virus.
On May 12, a hairdresser experienced respiratory symptoms in this salon in Springfield, Missouri. However, she continued to work until May 20, when she was diagnosed with Covid-19.
A second hairdresser (the study did not specify his gender) also mixed the first matrix and had symptoms on 15 May, and he continued to work until 20 May. Two days later, he tested positive for coronavirus.
The salon was closed for three days, during which it was sterilized, while health authorities identified 139 clients who may have mixed with the infected hairdressers. The rest of the staff at the site were quarantined for two weeks.
During the interaction with the customers, the two employees were always wearing a muzzle, one made of two layers of cotton for the first matrix and the other a surgical muzzle for the second employee.
But the employees were stripping the muzzle in the interval between appointments or in the absence of clients.
The health status of the 139 clients was later monitored and given the possibility to undergo tests. None of the 67 individuals who agreed to undergo an examination were found to be infected. The others did not show any symptoms in the next two weeks.
The clients were almost equal for men and women, and ranged in age from 21 to 93, with an average age of 52. An overwhelming majority of customers also applied masks during their appointments at the salon, which ranged from 15 minutes to 45 minutes.
The scientists at the CDC centers considered that this study strengthens their conviction that the muzzle curbs the Covid-19 outbreak.