Hu Shuli: Want to Stop the Outbreak? Wear a Mask

As of Thursday, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 203,000 people and killed 8,241 globally, according to data from John Hopkins University in the U.S. At this stage, what should the public do to prevent the relentless spread of Covid-19?

The simplest thing, I think, is for everybody to wear masks and wash their hands frequently. This is what we learned fighting the SARS epidemic 17 years ago — it is totally irresponsible to claim that wearing masks is useless in preventing respiratory infections.