Double masking and best mask guidelines


Wearing two face masks, or double masking, can substantially reduce a person’s exposure to coronavirus particles, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC report is a first of its kind from the agency, specifically addressing mask-wearing techniques and their efficacies. The CDC ultimately recommends two ways to improve how well face masks can protect you:To get more news about famous mask stock, you can visit tnkme.com official website.

When two people both exercise either of the above approaches, exposure to viral particles between them is reduced by upwards of 95 percent — more than double as efficient as the 42-to-44-percent efficiency the CDC saw from single surgical masks and single cloth masks.

As scientists and doctors identify new Covid-19 variants across the world and in the U.S., some Americans have been asking new questions about wearing face masks, notably whether they should double mask. In a recent interview with NBC’s “TODAY” show, Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that when it comes to wearing two masks to protect against the coronavirus, it "makes common sense" that more than one layer of masking would be more effective. We consulted medical experts about double masking and how to approach doing so.

On top of the CDC's new findings and subsequent guidance regarding double masks, interest in the practice had been steadily growing for some time. Jess Steier, DrPH, co-founder and CEO of healthcare data analytics company Vital Statistics Consulting, told us questions about double masking had been circulating lately given news about Covid-19 variants popping up across the world, including in the U.S. Andrea Love, PhD, a regional manager for Nexcelom Bioscience, added another potentially motivating factor for the interest: Although there is early evidence to suggest that the Covid-19 variants are more transmissible, it's still unclear how they will affect how the virus behaves. Love co-hosts the topical Unbiased Science Podcast with Steier.

While scientists and doctors don’t have exact answers yet, more highly transmissible variants may mean contracting the virus after shorter periods of exposure, for one thing. Thus, Love said the mitigation measures we take need to be more stringent, especially in regards to wearing face masks since they act as a “physical barrier to block these respiratory droplets.”

“Masks are not 100-percent effective, so you’re going to stop some droplets but not others,” explained Love. “If we’re trying to increase the number of droplets we block because the virus variants are more transmissible, that means we need better mask materials and more layers.”