WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY?The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long advised people to wear masks because they help prevent people who are infected — whether they know it or not — from spreading the coronavirus.But last week, the CDC added a new reason: masks can also protect wearers who are not infected, though to a lesser degree.The agency referred to a study led by Japanese researchers that found masks block about 60% of the amount of virus that comes out of an infected person.
When an uninfected person wearing a mask is near an infected person who isn't wearing one, the amount of virus the uninfected person inhaled fell by up to 50%.But when BOTH people are wearing masks, that produced the best result.