Here's One More Benefit That Will Make You Want To Wear A Mask
We all know how important it is to wear a face mask right now. And with both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization recommending we were a face mask in all public areas to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), it's a good idea to simply pop one on.
But if you need more convincing, according to Monica Gandhi, infectious disease doctor and a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, wearing a mask doesn't just slow the spread, you might be saving yourself from severe sickness. "The more virus you get into your body, the more sick you are likely to get," Gandhi told The University of California San Francisco communications team. In other words, those who wear masks are less likely to be exposed to the virus in large quantities and in many instances, they could also experience a less severe case of the coronavirus.
Mask wearers are more likely to be asymptomatic
And Charles Haas, an environmental engineer and expert in risk assessment at Drexel University, agrees. "It's been a real deficiency in the messaging about masking to say that it only protects the other," Haas told The New York Times. "From the get go, that never made sense scientifically," he continued. Some experts say there's even a correlation between an increase in mask wearers and an increase in cases of those who are asymptomatic.
However, according to a study from the University of Oxford's Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, it really depends on what kind of mask you wear. "The general public does not need to wear surgical masks or respirators," she revealed. "We find that masks made from high-quality material such as high-grade cotton, multiple layers, and particularly hybrid constructions are effective." You also need to sure the mask you wear fits properly. "It should loop around the ears or around the back of the neck for better coverage," she advised.