Need another reason to wear a face mask? Your own protection on November 3, 2020 in Community Health , Coronavirus , Infection Control , Infectious Disease by UVM Medical Center By Wouter Rietsema, MD, vice president, population health and information services, UVM Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital. At this point in the pandemic, we’ve learned that wearing a mask is the right thing to do because it protects the people around us. When we talk, cough, sneeze or exhale, facial coverings decrease the amount of infectious droplets that enter the air from our mouths and noses. I wear a mask to protect you. You wear a mask to protect me. Now, there is growing evidence that masks also provide protection for the wearer. In fact, studies show that some people who were infected with COVID-19 are still alive today because they wore a mask. So how are masks making a difference? They let significantly fewer v...