COVID: Glasses vs Contact Lenses

The eyes are surprisingly found to be a major source of transmission of COVID-19. In fact, eye protection is considered as important as mouth/nose protection in the hospital setting.

Many hospitals require their employees and physicians to wear eye protection at all times while in the hospital. Early on in the pandemic, Ophthalmologists were found to be getting COVID in very high numbers leading experts to believe that the eyes may be one of the highest risk routes of infection.

While there is no evidence that contact lenses spread the disease, it certainly places their wearers at an inherently increased risk. Anyone wearing contact lenses should take great care to wash their hands thoroughly prior to placing them in their

eyes. Additionally while hydrogen peroxide contact lens solution is likely to kill any viral particles, other solutions have not been well studied. Lastly, eye protection in the form of glasses (especially larger, wrap-around style) may offer some additional protection from droplets that carry COVID.

Tl;dr - Glasses may offer some greater protection against the risk of COVID but if you do continue to use contact lenses, use extra care to ensure your hands and the lenses are not accidental carriers to your own eyes (or to others)!