Students shall avoid eye exercises while wearing masks: expert

A local health expert recommends that students avoid doing eye exercises at school during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The outside of the mask could be polluted and may cause health problems if students’ hands touch it when doing eye exercises. So I suggest suspending eye exercises temporarily,” said Wu Fan, deputy director of Fudan University’s medical college and one of the experts working on controlling the coronavirus in Shanghai.

“There are a lot of ways to protect eyesight, such as looking into the distance after studying for a while,” she said. “Another way I think is very good is to walk between home and school if the distance is appropriate. For young students, if parents can walk with them, they can avoid risk of infection on public transportation, improve health and protect eyesight. Research has proven that two hours of outdoor activity a day is helpful in preventing myopia.”