Coronavirus (COVID - 19) is a global pandemic that has spread to almost the entire world, ranging from China, Japan and Korea to Europe, moving to the United States, Africa and South America. A large number of infected people in the world have caused the largest number of countries to initiate mass isolation processes and stop many social and economic processes in order to eradicate this disease, given the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused by COVID -19 spreads by close contact. With the emergence and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a global shortage of face masks as well as other medical equipment. As the epidemic progressed, face masks became a symbol of a new epidemic-stricken face of the world. The very connotation of face masks seen throughout history has had a broader meaning than just medical use, but never before has its use been recorded on such a global scale. The paper investigates the answers to the questions of whether face masks provide sufficient protection, what are the norms of adequacy of face masks, what is the difference between ordinary face masks, surgical face masks and respiratory masks, which type is optimal for the population and which for medical staff. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the properties of the so-called fibrous medium, as the most important component of the mask for air filtration The aim of this work was achieved through the analysis of the effects of physical and chemical characteristics of face masks and protection against virus transmission in the population.