While in February, the US Surgeon General Jerome Adams and Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, strongly recommended that healthy Americans not buy masks, the US government is now reconsidering its stance.
"The idea of getting a much more broad community-wide use of masks outside the health care setting is under very active discussion at the Task Force. The CDC group is looking at that very carefully," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to CNN.
Fauci and other healthcare officials stressed that they discouraged people from buying masks because they didn't want health care workers to be impacted by a shortage.
"If, in fact, a person who may or may not be infected wants to prevent infecting somebody else, the best way to do that is with a mask. Perhaps that's the way to go," said Fauci.
The World Health Organization stood by its position that masks should not be used by healthy members of the public because they are "commonly misused." Wearing a mask could provide a false sense of security and cause people to become lax with other important hygiene measures. Removing a mask so it doesn't cover your nose or touching the outside of the mask can make it less effective, according to the WHO.
“One can argue that there’s a benefit of anything,” said Michael J. Ryan, Chief Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, “but where does the given tool have its most benefit and right now the people most at risk from this virus are frontline health workers who are exposed to the virus every second of every day.”
The WHO stressed that the shortage is not the primary reason that the organization doesn't recommend mask wearing, but added that "the thought of [health care workers] not having masks is horrific."
While it seems that many experts are now recommending masks, it's important to clarify that there are a few different types of masks: N95 respirator masks, surgical masks and cloth masks.
Dr. James Phillips, CNN medical analyst and assistant professor of emergency medicine at George Washington University, told CNN that N95 masks "should not be worn by the general public. There's not any great proof that that's going to make a big difference."
Phillips clarified that surgical masks are preferable because cloth masks have been shown not to work.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, tweeted that a recommendation by the CDC for consumers to wear cotton masks "can improve safety and reduce spread and not strain the hospital supply chain."
Ben Cowling, a professor of epidemiology and a mask researcher at the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health, described the conflicting advice offered by governments and professionals as "a confusing message," according to Business Insider.
While Cowling didn't describe masks as vitally important, he did stress that it will slow down transmission in communities that use them "a bit."
"That's already useful," said Cowling. "Just to have even a small effect is useful."
In Asia, wearing masks was already a widespread practice when the outbreak began.
"It's like a civic duty in Asian countries to wear the face mask," said Elaine Shuo Feng, an epidemiologist and statistician, to Business Insider. "People wear the mask to protect themselves and also protect others."
David Hui, a respiratory medicine expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who studied the 2002 to 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), called it "common sense" that wearing a mask would prevent coronavirus infections.
"The mask provides a barrier from respiratory droplets, which is predominantly how the virus spreads," said Hui, according to TIME magazine.
Masks may also be useful in preventing spread from people who are infected but asymptomatic, as many people who were infected can spread the virus before they ever show symptoms.
Dr. David Price, a pulmonary specialist at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, explained that to get infected, "you actually have to have very long, sustained contact with someone, and I'm talking about over 15 to 30 minutes in an unprotected environment," according to Business Insider.
Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia all made face coverings mandatory in public, according to CNN.
Medical professionals throughout the US and the world are trying to continue to provide care while not becoming sick themselves, but a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) is leaving many vulnerable to infection.
Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, warned CNN that if the virus takes health care workers out of service, "it's game over. It's lights out," adding that there's "nothing more destabilizing for the United States" than such a situation.
In Israel, Yamina MK Ayelet Shaked said on Monday that before the government moves to a full lockdown, citizens should be required to wear masks, which she said would reduce the rate of coronavirus infection by 5-10%.
Moshe Bar Siman Tov, the Director-General of the Health Ministry, announced on Tuesday that the ministry was recommending that citizens who go out in public should wear masks. “You don’t need to run and buy masks, things can be improvised at home. A strip of cloth, for example, can be used to cover your face,” said Siman Tov.
For those who do decide to wear a mask, this is how it's done correctly, according to the WHO:
1. Before putting on the mask, clean hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer or soap and water.
2. Cover the mouth and nose with the mask, making sure that there are no gaps between your face and the mask
3. Avoid touching the mask while using it; if you do, clean your hands as described in step 1.
4. Replace the mask with a new one as soon as it is damp. Do not re-use single-use masks.
5. To remove the mask, remove it from behind without touching the front of the mask, discard immediately in a closed trash can and clean hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer or soap and water.