The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are currently studying the effectiveness of double masks – specifically a cloth mask placed over a medical mask – in preventing the spread of the coronavirus, but do not yet have “hard data” to support whether it would be better than wearing a single mask.
“We do not recommend for or against double masking,” said Dr. John Brooks, chief medical officer of the CDC’s COVID-19 response. “We want to disclose all the options available to people. If we can get people to mask the end point, this is the first big step.”
Brooks, who was attending the Infectious Diseases Society of America briefing on Friday, said the agency would “share the information” as soon as possible. He said some evidence suggests that the use of a medical mask and cloth can block more than 90% or more of the virus particles, which would be close to the level of protection that N95 masks offer.
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“You all know that wearing masks remains a key part of the public response to COVID-19,” Brooks said in his opening comments. “The CDC recommends that everyone over the age of 2 wear a mask in public places and close to people outside their home.”
Recently, leading experts, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, have praised the effectiveness of two masks compared to one in the past few days in helping to prevent the virus from spreading.
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“If you have a physical layer with one layer, you add another layer, it makes sense that it is probably more effective,” said Fauci, appearing TODAY this week. “And that’s the reason why you see people wearing double masks or making a version of the N95.”
Currently, the CDC only recommends N95 masks for healthcare professionals.
Brooks added that the agency continues to evaluate the effectiveness of different combinations of materials and warned that sometimes more does not necessarily mean better, referring to the example of multiple condom use. However, if wearing a double mask makes one person feel safe and results in another person practicing wearing the mask, they do not anticipate this as a problem.
“If double masking is an option they would use when wearing a mask, I would wholeheartedly endorse it,” he said.
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CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told NBC’s “Today” program on Friday that 59% of Americans are wearing masks now.
“There are different types of quality masks and our recommendation is a multilayer cloth mask or procedure mask or medical mask, certainly N95s offer the best filtration, but in fact they are very difficult to tolerate for long periods of time, and I think the difference between a two-layer fabric mask and an N95 is relatively small compared to the difference between having 41% of the American population masked. “
She said that a cloth mask refers to two or three layers.
When asked on Thursday whether the CDC planned to issue new guidelines on double masks, a spokesman directed Fox News to the agency’s current guidelines, which recommends “wearing masks with two or more layers of washable and breathable fabric”.