Can Widespread Mask Use Prevent Lockdowns Where The Virus Is Surging? : Shots - Health News

Now prominent scientists are proposing a radical — and hopeful — possibility: Even as coronavirus cases spiral upward across the United States to levels surpassing this spring's surge, these experts argue that if Americans start wearing masks en masse, the U.S. may yet avoid a return to lockdown measures. 'Look, we've never tried to use masks as our primary strategy when outbreaks are this bad,' says Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. 'But I do believe that if we want to avoid a complete lockdown, we've got to at least give it a shot.'