Virus Outbreak: Masks greatly limit spread: CECCPLAYING THE ODDS: A CECC official said that if healthy and infected people are wearing masks, their risk of viral transmission is reduced to about 1 to 2 percentBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterWearing masks greatly reduces the risk of spreading COVID-19, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) specialist advisory panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said. “Many people have asked why several confirmed cases in Taiwan did not spread the virus to other people,” Chang said, pointing to an illustration depicting a healthy person and an infected person interacting in possible scenarios. Taiwan reported zero cases for six consecutive days ending on Friday, with three cases reported on Saturday. The numbers of daily confirmed cases indicate a similar trend, showing that the peak of reported cases was in mid-March, he said. Doctors’ clinical diagnoses of the first 100 confirmed cases show that the two most common symptoms were fever and coughing, he said.

Source: Taipei Times May 03, 2020 15:56 UTC