Numerous studies have concluded that face masks can prevent people from spreading airway germs to others.
But now a new paper, due to be published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, has found that masks also protect the people wearing them too - lessening the severity of symptoms, or preventing infection entirely in some cases.

Using animal experiments and observations during the pandemic, the group of scientists says people wearing face coverings take in fewer coronavirus particles, making it easier for their immune systems to combat any viral spread.

Dr. Tsion Firew, a doctor at Columbia University in the US - who wasn’t involved in the work, - told the New York Times that a relationship between masking and milder disease had not yet been proven.

But the new research paper “reiterates what we say about masks,” said Dr Firew. “It’s not just a selfless act.”