Wearing face masks helps in preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic which has so far caused infections to more than 7.7 million people, a new study suggests.

Wearing a mask is more important than social distancing and other regulations in protecting people against the virus, according to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Researchers found that after comparing the cases in Italy and New York City before and after the imposition of wearing face masks. The rates of infection decreased after implementing the mask-wearing regulation, where it decreased by 3% per day in New York City.

"This protective measure alone significantly reduced the number of infections, that is, by over 78,000 in Italy from April 6 to May 9 and over 66,000 in New York City from April 17 to May 9," researchers stated.

The researchers concluded that wearing masks in public places is one of the most effective ways to prevent corona transmission between humans. This practice is necessary to stop the COVID-19 outbreak along with adopting social distancing, quarantine and tracking infected cases until an effective vaccine is spent on the epidemic.

"The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention urged on Friday, June 12, organizers of large gatherings that involve shouting, chanting, or singing to strongly encourage the use of cloth face coverings to lower the risk of spreading the coronavirus."

Read more: Study: Widespread mask-wearing could push virus transmission down, prevent second waves