“The only mask that the CDC considers safe from you getting the coronavirus, the only way to actually prevent you from inhaling it, is the N95 mask,” Captain Michael Doyle, a U.S. Army New York National Guard physician assistant, told USA TODAY. Doyle is the commanding officer at the drive-in coronavirus testing site in New Rochelle, New York.

And the N95 mask can only be worn for short periods of time, as it impedes breathing. That's why health care professionals don't want us using up the supply of regular masks.