One-way masking can still protect against Covid infection, experts say.

Will a mask protect me even if no one else is wearing one? One-way masking can still protect against Covid infection, experts say. NBC News

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Though most health experts agree universal masking, along with vaccinations, remains the best public health strategy against the spread of the virus, people can still benefit from wearing a mask even if no one else around them is.

"You're certainly much better protected than you would be if you're not wearing a mask at all," said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of public health at Johns Hopkins University and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. ...

The CDC has advice on its website for properly wearing a mask, saying it should cover one’s nose and mouth and be secured under the chin.

The type and quality of the mask matters, too. A CDC study released Friday found that people who consistently wear a high-quality mask, such as an N95 or KN95, in an indoor public setting appear to have the best chance of avoiding Covid. The CDC report looked at randomly selected California residents who had received either a negative or a positive Covid test from Feb. 18 to Dec. 1.

It found that when someone wore a cloth mask, the odds of testing positive for Covid infection were reduced by 56 percent. A surgical mask lowered the odds by 66 percent. People who wore an N95 or KN95 were 83 percent less likely to test positive for Covid. ...