Coronavirus

'Two-Way Street': CDC Report Says Masks Protect Wearers, Everyone Else

"Adopting universal masking policies can help avert future lockdowns," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said

NBCUniversal Media, LLC A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that wearing a face mask can protect the wearer as well as others from the spread of COVID-19. The agency has previously stated that wearing masks may help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others who may be nearby.

Wearing a mask not only protects others from the spread of COVID-19, but it protects the wearer as well, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday in its strongest messaging yet on face coverings.

The CDC also said that "adopting universal masking policies can help avert future lockdowns," particularly when combined with a doubling down of mitigation strategies available to virtually every American: physical distancing, hand washing and ventilation, NBC News reports.

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SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spreads mainly through respiratory droplets, especially when people are coughing, sneezing, singing, talking or even breathing. Infectious disease experts have long said that when one person covers his or her mouth and nose, it protects those who are nearby. The CDC report estimated that more than 50 percent of transmissions originate from asymptomatic people, or those who have been infected but have not yet developed symptoms.

When the CDC first urged Americans to wear face coverings in public in spring, the guidance was that it protected others. But there is growing evidence that a mask can also give protection to the person wearing it.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com.

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