To mask or not to mask? That is the question we are all facing, especially since the World Health organization recommended that healthy people without COVID-19 symptoms should only wear masks when caring for someone infected with the virus.

This recommendation differs from guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that advise everyone to don a face covering when in public setting where social distancing is not feasible.

According to FOX News,  Dr. April Baller, a public health specialist for WHO, posted on their website in March:

“If you do not have any respiratory symptoms such as fever cough or runny nose, you do not need to wear a mask. Masks should only be used by healthcare workers, caretakes or by people who are sick with symptoms of fever and cough.

Despite the devastating deaths caused by the coronavirus, the WHO recommendations haven’t changed. The CDC, on the other hand, has said that because new evidence shows even asymptomatic people can spread the disease, they stand by their recommendations that everyone should “wear a cloth face covering in public settings wear social distancing is difficult to maintain,” according to Fox News.

The CDC said that it’s critical to combine social distancing with the use of face coverings to “slow the spread of the virus and to help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others.”

Hong Kong scientists recently discovered that wearing face masks also protects the wearer from the virus by as much as 75%.

“The findings implied to the world and the public is that the effectiveness of mask-wearing against the coronavirus pandemic is huge,” said microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung of Hong Kong University, according to The Hill.

“Up to this stage, we don’t have a safe and effective vaccine. What remains is social distancing or wearing masks,” he added.