The U.S. surgeon general has a message for Americans -- stop buying masks now!

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U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams wants you to take all reasonable precautions to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

 

 

That means leaving the box of facemasks on the bricks-and-mortar or digital store shelf.

“Seriously people -- STOP BUYING MASKS!” Adams tweeted Saturday afternoon. “They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”

 

In short, surgical facemasks help keep infected people from spreading the coronavirus, but they don’t do a whole lot in terms of keeping healthy people from getting the virus. That’s because they protect people from large airborne particles but not smaller ones. Plus, wearing a facemask tends to give one a false sense of security, says Jennifer Vines, Multnomah County’s health officer.

If you really want to wear a mask, and you want it to be effective, you’ll need to track down an N95 respirator mask that needs to be properly fitted.

 

A much better bet: take reasonable precautions. Avoid crowds, wash your hands regularly and properly, regularly scrub often-touched surfaces in your home and office, and try not to touch your face.

 

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