Amid the deadly outbreak of coronavirus in China that’s killed at least 26 people and sickened hundreds of others, officials in the country are encouraging the public to wear surgical masks to prevent the spread of disease. But the question remains: Do surgical masks really work? Rather, he explained, surgical masks are typically used by surgeons to protect their patients from their mouth-borne germs — but “those masks don't work to prevent inhaling diseases,” said Schaffner. That said, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently recommending anyone infected with the novel coronavirus or being tested for it to wear a surgical mask when in public. And one infectious disease physician told The New York Times the masks could block “large respiratory droplets” from entering your body when an infected person sneezes or coughs.

Source: Fox News January 24, 2020 16:52 UTC