Last month, an opinion article published in JAMA argued that there could be many benefits to encouraging everyone to wear these face shields. The three doctors who wrote the article made some pretty valid points: Face shields are easier to disinfect than cloth masks, they prevent the wearer from touching even more areas of their face than a cloth mask might, and they're easier to breathe in . People also tend to remove their cloth masks when they're talking to people. "The use of a face shield is also a reminder to maintain social distancing, but allows visibility of facial expressions and lip movements for speech perception," the researchers write.