On A Serious Note,

with the spread of the latest contagious disease,

the new Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), should we start queing up to buy some facemasks? short answer no, long answer, if it's a regular surgical face mask, the answer is "no," Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease specialist at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, told Live Science, a more specialized mask, known as an N95 respirator, can protect against the new coronavirus, the respirator is thicker than a surgical mask, but Schaffner doesn't recommend it for public use, at least not at this point, for one thing, there are just seven cases of coronavirus in the United States at this point, meanwhile, influenza will infect, hospitalize and even kill thousands upon thousands of Americans this year, but most people aren't thinking of taking the same precautions for that illness, he said, furthermore, while there is no shortage of the respirators now, there could be if too many people unnecessarily buy one, Schaffner said, image credit, Alex Chirkin/ Wikimedia Commons, apparently to be effective the mask must fit snuggly, and in time can become really uncomfortable,

  as the photographs in this article show, where health workers have worn them at their work, if the mask is not literally airtight where it seals around the edges of the mask against the wearer's face, it does not stop the virus from getting in, but I guess human nature says, 'anything is better than nothing!'.