CDC Update Results: Wearing a mask protects you, not just those around you.

Breaking away from its tentative recommendations on wearing masks so far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that wearing masks benefits wearers, which goes beyond its earlier claim that wearing masks would only protect those around them.

“Experimental and epidemiological data support community masking to reduce spread,” the CDC said in a paper detailing the scientific evidence supporting the use of the mask. “The individual benefits increase with the increasing use of masks in the community,” he says.

The unequivocal statements depart from earlier language, which suggested that “the latest science can convince” Americans to wear masks and that the use of a mask could prevent an infected person from spreading the virus to other people. other. “The main protection that individuals get from masking is when other people in their communities also wear face masks,” he says.

The agency also filed a business case, saying a 15% increase in the proportion of people wearing masks could avoid the need for a lockdown and reduce associated losses to $ 1 trillion, or about 5% of the proceeds. gross domestic.

The new paper lists several studies that “confirmed the value of universal masking,” as well as observational studies that have proven its usefulness, including an example of two masked hairdressers who exhibited symptoms but did not. transmitted the virus. to one of their 67 masked clients who were subsequently contacted. The paper also referred to a study of 124 families in Beijing in which the use of masks significantly reduced transmission of the virus and to an epidemic aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in which face masks appeared to have reduced the risk of 70% infection.

Experts said they were thrilled to see the change in the CDC’s stance, and especially the focus on face covers that protect the wearer.

“This is important for public health messaging because we still don’t have people fully convinced of the benefits of masking until they see the CDC saying it protects you and your family too,” said Dr Monica Gandhi, a disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco.

“I encourage all Americans to adhere to the masking guidelines now, as today we feel more clearly that it will protect you and others,” said Dr. Gandhi. “We cannot afford closures anymore, but we can do our part to stop the transmission and disease of Covid-19”.