Everyone out in public should wear a mask at this time, according to the CDC recommendation. Sick people, who know they are sick with COVID-19, should not be out in public; and if they must go somewhere, should absolutely wear a face mask or other face covering.
As many as one out of four COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic, according to the CDC. And that presents problems for others if you think you are okay, but really you are contagious and contaminating everything around you with the virus. This is the thinking behind the idea to recommend mask wearing for everyone at this time.
Even the most simple, homemade mask is very effective at trapping droplets from your coughs and sneezes.
A recent study published in Nature from the University of Hong Kong and the University of Maryland asked 111 people, infected with various viral illnesses (influenza, rhinovirus and a more-mild coronavirus), to exhale into a giant funnel. Sometimes their noses and mouths weren’t covered; other times they used a simple, not-particularly-well-fitted mask. Without the masks, the infected people exhaled contagious droplets and aerosols, tiny particles that linger in the air, about 30 percent of the time they were tested. When the infected patients wore a mask, it blocked nearly 100 percent of viral droplets.
“If we look at all the results together, we found that masks were able to stop most virus-laden respiratory droplets and some of the virus-laden aerosols,” said Ben Cowling, at the School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong, and the study’s senior author, according to a report in The New York Times. Here is a link to the study on how face masks can make a significant impact in reducing the transmission of viruses such as the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.