Masks Protect Wearers, Too, CDC Acknowledges
The agency catches up to what scientists have been saying, adding another reason to mask up
Perhaps people who aren’t willing to don a face covering in the interest of protecting others will be motivated by selfish interests: Masks protect those who wear them from the coronavirus, too, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says.
It’s a stance leading scientists in the fields of aerosol research and infectious diseases had already concluded, after recent research dispelled the earlier notion that masks were useful mostly just for protecting others from an infected person who wore one.
“Masks are primarily intended to reduce the emission of virus-laden droplets (‘source control’), which is especially relevant for asymptomatic or presymptomatic infected wearers who feel well and may be unaware of their infectiousness to others, and who are estimated to account for more than 50% of transmissions,” the CDC states. “Masks also help reduce inhalation of these droplets by the wearer (‘filtration for personal protection’).”
