Our face mask future: Do they really help beat flu, coronavirus and pollution?

Huge numbers of people are wearing face masks - in Japan and South Korea there have been reports of stores selling out. But experts are divided on how effective they are

As the death toll from coronavirus steadily rises, east Asian countries such as Taiwan have stepped up production of surgical face masks to meet demand. In the Chinese city of Wuhan, at the centre of the outbreak, it is mandatory to wear one in public places, and there have been reports of stores in Japan and South Korea selling out.

The hope is that wearing masks in high-risk areas will at least slow the spread of the disease, but just how helpful they are is moot. Raina MacIntyre, a professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales, has been reviewing the literature on protocol for dealing with infectious diseases and finds it wanting.

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