Surgical masks reduce COVID-19 spread: study

A new study that examined the effects of mask-wearing on the spread of COVID-19 found that even partial adoption helps to limit the spread. 

Researchers found that those living in the villages with such interventions were around 11% less likely to develop COVID-19 than those who did not. The effectiveness increased to nearly 35% for people over 60 years old, according to Stanford Medicine.  "Our study is the first randomized controlled trial exploring whether facial masking prevents COVID-19 transmission at the community level," said Ashley Styczynski, one of the lead authors and an infectious disease fellow at Stanford. "It’s notable that even though fewer than 50% of the people in the intervention villages wore masks in public places, we still saw a significant risk reduction in symptomatic COVID-19 in these communities, particularly in elderly, more vulnerable people."