Abstract: Objective To investigate the public's use and relevant knowledge about masks and basic protection awareness during the outbreak of Corona Virus Disease 2019（COVID-19）, and provide evidence for health education in the future. Methods An online survey was conducted through releasing a self-designed questionnaire on the official account of Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Basic information of the respondents, use of masks and prevention measures were collected. Descriptive methods were used to analyze the use of masks of public, and then Logistic regression was used to analyze the factors influencing the protection awareness against the COVID-19. Results A total of 2 213 valid questionnaires were collected. 97.0% of the respondents wore masks during the epidemic, 96.5% used masks in public places, 89.8% used disposable medical or surgical masks, and 94.5% changed their masks once in 1-3 days. 80.6% of the respondents agreed that face masks were effective. 58.5% of respondents showed a strong awareness of protection, with women （OR=1.792） and those aged 60 and over （OR=4.245） more likely to have a strong sense of protection. Conclusion The public has a high protection awareness during the COVID-19, gender and age are the factors influencing the protection awareness.

Key words: COVID-19, Face mask, Protection awareness, Influencing factor