Experts have started to question official guidance about whether ordinary healthy people should protect themselves with a regular surgical mask, or even a scarf.
The World Health Organization and the CDC continue to state that masks don't necessarily protect healthy individuals from getting infected as they go about their daily lives. The official guidance continues to recommend that masks should be reserved for people who are already sick, as well as for the health workers and caregivers who must interact with infected individuals on a regular basis. Everyone else, they say, should stick to frequent hand-washing and maintaining a distance of at least 6 feet from other people.
The recent surge in infections means more Americans are now at risk. And healthy individuals, especially those with essential jobs who cannot avoid close interaction with others, may need to start wearing masks more regularly. Studies of pandemics have shown that when high-grade N95 masks are not available, surgical masks do protect people a bit more than not wearing masks at all. And when masks are combined with hand hygiene, they help reduce the transmission of infections.
New York Times
