Coronavirus: do airport screenings and face masks work?

The decision to quarantine some 20 million people in three cities in China – including Wuhan, a regional capital that is larger than London – has triggered both praise and condemnation across the globe. 

Some experts argue that restricting travel is the only real way to stop a virus spreading further – especially considering upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations, which usually see millions of people moving across the country and region.

But others say that the draconian intervention – which is one of the largest quarantines in global history – will only spread panic and drive cases underground.

“Involuntary quarantines have a questionable track record and can often be counterproductive,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and former Obama era director of USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance.

“A quarantine… will be challenging to enforce, and past precedents suggest it could lead to more hiding of cases and less voluntary compliance with public health measures.” But if a quarantine is not the answer, what can be done to stop the virus spreading?

Do face masks work?

People wearing face masks have become a defining image of large disease outbreaks, and this one is no different, with cities in Asia already reporting shortages as masks fly off the shelves. 

But in reality, the thin material masks do little to stop a respiratory virus spreading. 

“The face masks that we see people wearing are surgical face masks,” said Dr Mark Parrish, regional medical director of the medical and travel security firm International SOS. “As you breathe in and out you're breathing air from outside the face mask. So it will stop a little bit but not hugely.” Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, added that face masks were proven to be effective in hospitals – where they are changed frequently and disposed of properly.

“But in the general population it may even be the case that they’re not helpful at all,” he added. “If you don’t change them regularly enough, they could potentially start to trap viruses and eventually they can move through that mask into your respiratory tract.”  

Is screening at transport hubs the best way to control the coronavirus?

Numerous countries across the globe, including the UK, have introduced screening at airports in an attempt to identify people who may have coronavirus symptoms. 

But the limit here is that only those who are already ill will be picked up. So health experts say the most effective way to control the spread of viruses is an alert health system and high standards of infection control.