WASHINGTON, July 15 (AFP): Two US hair stylists who wore masks while infected with the coronavirus did not pass on COVID-19 to nearly 140 clients they saw over the course of several days, a study said Tuesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the report, said the findings added weight to universal face covering policies as a means of slowing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
On May 12, a hair stylist (stylist A) developed respiratory symptoms at a salon in Springfield, Missouri and continued working with clients until May 20, when she received a positive test for the new coronavirus.
Stylist A ignored medical advice to self isolate after her test on May 18.
A second hair stylist (stylist B), who had been exposed to the first, developed symptoms on May 15 and also continued working until May 20, when stylist A got her result.
Stylist B tested positive two days later.
At this point, the salon closed for three days for disinfection while Greene County health officials performed contact tracing, identifying a total of 139 clients seen by the two infected stylists.
The rest of the staff were also quarantined for two weeks.
During their interactions with clients, both stylists had worn masks: stylist A had worn a double-layered cotton face covering, while stylist B had worn either a double-layered cotton face covering or a surgical mask.
But even when stylist A had symptoms, the two stylists interacted with each other while neither was masked in intervals between clients.
All 139 clients were monitored for symptoms for the next two weeks, and testing was offered to all of them, to be performed five days after their exposure.
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