CDC Recommends Americans Wear Cloth Face Masks in Public

"It's better than nothing. And that's one of the reasons I think we should be doing this,” Allen said in a recent call with reporters. “Similar to all the other approaches we've been taking, it's an all-in approach. We need to be taking every step we can to minimize disease spread because of the context of what we're facing. It's a pandemic; risk is everywhere, and we're trying to minimize risk everywhere we can.”

Some experts argue, however, that masks can provide a false sense of security, leading people who wear them to abandon other important preventive measures. In a recent press briefing, Deborah Birx, a physician and the response coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, stressed there are other ways people can get infected with the coronavirus, including by touching their eyes, which are not covered by a face mask.

"We don't want — when we're trying to send a signal that every single person in this country needs to stay 6 feet away from everybody, that [people] need to be washing their hands constantly and know where their hands are — to send a signal that we think a mask is equivalent to those pieces,” Birx said.

The CDC says its updated recommendation “complements and does not replace” instructions outlined in the president's coronavirus guidelines, which call on older adults and people with underlying health conditions, in particular, to stay home as much as possible and to avoid others.

It's also important to remember to wash your hands often with soap and water (scrubbing for at least 20 seconds) and to stay home if you are feeling sick, health experts emphasize.

Face masks are “just one more layer of protection,” Allen says. “And the scale and scope of what we're facing, I believe, mandates that we take every precaution we can.”