By now, you’ve heard the debates. To wear a mask, or not to wear a mask.
In some places, public health officials require it. In other places it’s optional. Can wearing a mask really provide protection from the coronavirus?
In a recent study, researchers look at how easily COVID-19 spreads. Yes, you could get the coronavirus from contaminated surfaces. (Wash your hands. Sanitize surfaces.) But the most common way the virus spreads is person to person from:
Coughing
Sneezing
Talking
Even breathing, can push tiny droplets of the virus into the air.
If you’re within range, you could infect other people or contract the virus. But wearing a mask can help. Based on computer models, researchers estimate masks helped prevent 66,000 cases of the virus in New York City in just one month.
“Wearing a face mask in public corresponds to the most effective means to prevent… transmission,” says lead researcher Renyi Zhang. “This inexpensive practice,…with social distancing and other procedures, is the most likely opportunity to stop the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Want to protect yourself from the coronavirus? Wear a mask in public.
