Surgical masks cannot filter out virus particles, but they can protect the wearer from droplets coming out of a sick person’s mouth when they cough, sneeze or talk, Chi said.

Many pharmacies and online retailers have run out of surgical masks Georgia Slater is a staff editor on the Parents team at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2018. Her work has ...

Michael Hall, a CDC vaccine provider, told CNET that while N95 respirators are the most protective, surgical masks can help protect you from other people's coughs and sneezes.

If one person is unmasked and freely exhaling germs, the burden of protection is all on the other person’s mask. While cloth and surgical masks provide some defense in this scenario, respirators ...

Pictures taken around the world show some people wearing surgical face masks in public while others appear to be wearing respirators, which the CDC says are used to reduce a wearer's risk of ...

Many health officials are recommending people to change out their cloth masks for a surgical mask. Read more at Boston.com.

In East Asia — namely in countries such as China, Taiwan, and Japan, among others — surgical masks are not only worn by sick people hoping to prevent the spread of illness but also for air ...

With a national shortage of N95 and surgical masks, some Americans are sewing homemade masks. ... above all else, for people to avoid person-to-person contact and practice social distancing, ...

People over age 50 benefited most, especially in communities where we distributed surgical masks. In these communities, Covid-19 cases fell by 23 percent for people aged 50 to 60 and by 35 percent ...

In Japan, the wearing of surgical masks by people coughing and sneezing has long been a common sight, perhaps out of politeness — it's rude to risk spreading your cold to strangers.

A CDC study finds that two masks -- a surgical mask with a cloth one on top -- might be more effective at reducing transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19.

But the masks were deeply unpopular, in part because people preferred surgical ones. As of late October, more than 81 million of the masks were still in storage .