Making masks mandatory could create more harm than risk, according to a leading expert.
A new study suggests that droplets released when speaking can spread Covid-19 and not just coughs or sneezes.
The study in the New England Journal of Medicine says that masks are advisable.
But Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, Dr Cillian De Gascun says masks can increase complacency:
"The question is how people manage them when they're on, and whether they increase the risk of people touching them and therefore contaminating their hands and therefore contaminating surfaces.
"So it's not about saying that people aren't capable of wearing them properly, it's what is the balance of the risk versus the harm.
"There's also evidence to suggest that if people wear masks a lot that increases complacency."
