E-vision simulator:
View in High Contrast

Wearing and caring for your eyewear during coronavirus pandemic

The Centre for Ocular Research and Education (CORE) has issued advice on wearing and caring for your contact lenses and spectacles amidst Novel Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic.*

Advice released on 12 March 2020 is as follows:

Contact Lens Wear is Safe. Contact lens wear remains a safe and highly effective form of vision correction for millions of people worldwide.

Proper Hand Washing is Essential. When using contact lenses or spectacles, careful and thorough hand washing with soap and water followed by hand drying with unused paper towels is paramount. For contact lens wearers, this should occur before every insertion and removal.

Disinfect Contact Lenses. Contact lens wearers should either dispose of their daily disposable lenses each evening, or regularly disinfect their monthly and two-week lenses according to manufacturer and eye care professional instructions.

Disinfect Spectacles and Glasses. Some viruses such as COVID-19 can remain on hard surfaces for hours to days, which can be transferred to spectacles wearers’ fingers and faces.

Discontinue Lens Wear if Sick. Ceasing contact lens wear when sick is advised, consistent with guidance for other types of illness.

Spectacles are Not Proven to Offer Protection. There is no scientific evidence that wearing spectacles or glasses provide protection against COVID-19 or other viral transmissions.

 

For more general advice see our short guide to wearing and caring for your contact lenses here

 

For the latest Public Health advice on hand washing and staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response

 

* https://core.uwaterloo.ca/news/top-contact-lens-experts-dispel-misinformation-regarding-coronavirus-covid-19-protections-for-contact-lens-wearers/

 

Published 17 March 2020