The primary way the coronavirus spreads is from person to person by respiratory droplets produced when someone coughs, talks, sneezes they could release germs into the air that may infect others nearby. Wearing a face mask will help prevent the spread of infection and prevent the individual from contracting any airborne infectious germs. Face masks are part of an infection control strategy to eliminate cross-contamination. They act as a barrier to keep virus-containing particles from escaping an infected individual and landing on another person.

One of the reasons, public face mask wearing is so important with Covid-19 has to do with the prevalence of asymptomatic carriers who can still spread the virus to others.

It is impossible to find an infected person in a crowd just by looking at them. There is a lot of asymptomatic infection, so everybody must wear a mask.

It is estimated that anywhere from 6% to almost 18% of those infected can carry the virus without developing symptoms. Add to this an incubation period of around 5 to 14 days in some cases, before symptoms develop and even those who do go on to show signs of being contagious can spread the virus to a lot of people before they start to fall ill.

This makes it particularly difficult to suppress transmission in the community. But if everybody is wearing face masks, that would mean infected and asymptomatic people are also wearing masks. This helps to reduce the amount of virus which gets into the environment and potentially causes infections.

Masks may be more effective as a “source control” because they can prevent larger expelled droplets from evaporating into smaller droplets that can travel farther.

A properly fitted mask provides two-fold protection for the wearer and those around them. For the wearer, it can protect the face from large droplets released by someone’s cough, sneeze, or breath, and it can also help block the wearer from exposing others to infectious droplets through the same means.

However, the level of protection a mask provides depends on its material and proper usage by the wearer.

You wear a mask to protect me, I wear a mask to protect you.

For the general public, the most important consideration is comfort. Most masks are harsh on the skin, painful around the ears, and not re-usable and hard to breathe in. The best mask is the one you can wear comfortably and consistently.

N95 masks are only necessary for medical situations such as intubation. Surgical masks are generally more protective than cloth masks, and some people find them lighter and more comfortable to wear.

The bottom line is that any mask that covers the nose and mouth will be of benefit.

However, Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) now recommend the use of cloth masks for the general public.

When putting on your face mask, make sure that the mask fits snugly against the sides of your face to create as much of a seal as possible. The mask should be tightly but comfortably secured behind your ears. Make sure your mask completely covers your nose, mouth, and chin.