You should be wearing a protective face covering whenever you are around other people in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, according to new research, you may still be compromising not only your health, but the health of others, if you aren’t standing six feet apart.

A new study courtesy of Talib Dbouk and Dimitris Drikakis, from the University of Nicosia in Cyprus and published in Physics of Fluids, claims that the virus can still spread when a mask-wearing person is coughing excessively, traveling up to 18 feet in five seconds via droplets of saliva.

Droplets Can Escape

The researchers used a computer model to map out potential flow patterns of such respiratory droplets in an attempt to learn more about the protection level of facial masks. They found that when an individual repeatedly coughed, they were more likely to infect others, as more droplets could make their way through the masks.

With a mask on, droplets may be able to travel up to one meter during a mild coughing fit. Without a mask, they have the ability to travel twice as far. Researchers pointed out that their calculations revealed an effect on the droplet size due to turbulent flow encountering the mask, escaping, and entering the environment. Droplets can also escape out the sides of the mask, especially during excessive coughing fits…