Wearing surgical masks can significantly reduce the chances of those with COVID-19 infecting others, researchers have claimed.
Image: The UK government is now advising people to wear masks where they cannot practise social distancing.
Dr Yuen, who helped discover the SARS virus in 2003, said the study was the first of its kind.
He said that his team conducted the study because - while he has long supported wearing masks - world leaders, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), had questioned their effectiveness.
Researchers said they found that without any masks between the cages, two-thirds of the healthy hamsters were infected within a week.
Transmission can be reduced by 50% when surgical masks are used, especially when masks are worn by infected individuals.
Hong Kong suffered 298 deaths from SARS, second only to mainland China, but the territory has only reported four fatalities from COVID-19. »