People started using face masks in the early 20th century, especially during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. However, face masks were first widely used by medical professionals in the late 1800s to prevent the spread of germs. Even earlier, in ancient China, people sometimes used cloth to cover their faces to protect against dust and diseases. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, face masks became more common in public, especially in Asia. Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 made the use of face masks mandatory in many places around the world.
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