Demand for face masks is surging because of the coronavirus — but doctors say wearing one isn't the safest thing you can do
Chinese officials have urged citizens to don masks to curb the spread of the deadly disease, which has infected more than 31,000 people in China andBut doctors say face masks aren't as effective as most people think — and there are better ways to protect yourself from the virus.Chinese officials are urging citizens to wear face masks to curb the spread of coronavirus.
"Small infectious droplets cannot be filtered by the surgical masks," Hyo-Jick Choi, an assistant professor of chemical and materials engineering at the University of Alberta, told "Business Insider Today." "At the same time, the respirators and the surgical masks do not have the function to kill the virus, so when virus-carrying droplets sit on the surface of the masks and the respirators, they can survive minimum a few hours to a week.
But Choi believes he has found an effective mask — one that's coated in salt crystals that can not only trap small virus particles but also deactivate them entirely. Prestige Ameritech, a mask manufacturer from Texas, is among the US companies that have shipped orders to foreign governments as the coronavirus spreads to places like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan.
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