Doctors are urging all Westchester and Hudson Valley residents to be vigilant in wearing a mask and practicing social distancing even though the number of new cases of coronavirus is going down.

Dr. Michael Ford with NY Presbyterian Hudson Valley in Cortlandt says it is possible for someone to never contract the virus if they always wear a mask.

"The masks really work, you just have to wear it," says Ford.

Dr. Ford's advice comes as a new study finds that if at least 80 percent of people wore a mask then COVID-19 rates would drop.

Mask wearing is a hotly debated practice with some people insisting there is no proof that masks work.

In New York state it's a required accessory to enter grocery stores or basically any place of business. Dr. Ford says people should even wear a mask while outside exercising.

"I know a woman who got COVID-19 and her only time outside the house was running on a trail," says Dr. Ford. "She wasn't wearing a mask and she would run by and other people were walking on the trail."

The coronavirus is passed through respiratory droplets.

Acceptable face coverings included folded bandanas, homemade cloth masks, but Dr. Ford says surgical masks are best.