Double mask for Covid-19 protection: a trend with a purpose

Double mask for Covid-19 protection: a trend with a purpose

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Public health officials are suggesting double masking as a way to increase the level of protection against the coronavirus and its many more contagious variants.

“If you have physical coverage with one layer, put on another layer, it makes sense that it’s probably more effective, which is why you see people wearing a double mask or making a version of an N95,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, now chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been folding their arms for weeks – in fact, Biden used to be seen wearing a surgical mask under his black fabric cover before being sworn in.

On opening day, nominated transport secretary Pete Buttigieg and her husband, Chasten Buttigieg, took a masked double selfie, and inaugural poet Amanda Gorman wore a surgical mask under her Prada version.

Young national poet laureate Amanda Gorman arrived at the inauguration wearing a double mask.

US Republican senators Mitch Romney and Marco Rubio were seen wearing double masks on Capitol Hill in mid-December.

Protection layer

A single-layer mask is not really effective at blocking aerosols, studies show, and even homemade two- and three-layer fabric masks are only partially protective – somewhere between 50% to 60% of the effectiveness range.

Surgical masks, also called medical-grade masks, are made of three layers of non-woven fabric, usually made of plastic. The colored top layer of the fabric is made of medical-grade spunbond polypropylene, which is a heat-bonded resin polymer in a web-like structure.

A 2020 study found that surgical masks were about 50% effective in protecting the user from other people’s aerosols and between 60% and 70% in protecting other people.
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But put a surgical mask under a cloth mask and you’ll have “more than 91% particle removal efficiency,” said Joseph Allen, associate professor at Harvard School of Public Health TH Chan and director of the Healthy Buildings program at school, in a recent interview.
In mid-December, Linsey Marr, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, one of the top specialists in aerosol virus transmission, and Dr. Monica Gandhi, professor of medicine at UCSF / San Francisco General Hospital, posted a comment asking for double mask,

“For maximum protection”, Marr and Gandhi suggested that the public could “wear a cloth mask firmly on top of a surgical mask where the surgical mask acts as a filter and the cloth mask provides an additional layer of filtration while improving fit . “

A second option, they said, could be to use a three-layer mask made of a flexible, tightly woven fabric that adapts to the face, with an insertion of a “high-efficiency non-woven filter material” such as a vacuum bag.

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Of course, the best facial covers for protection are N95 respirators, made of fibers woven with an electric charge that can retain errant particles, like a sock that sticks to a blanket in the dryer. Similar products include Chinese KN95, European versions FFP1 and FFP2, Australia-New Zealand P2, Korean 1st class and Japanese DS2.
“Consider upgrading a cloth mask to a surgical mask or a surgical mask to an N95 / KN95 / equivalent, if available. Better masks can help reduce the risk of more contagious strains,” a former director of the US Center for Disease and Control, Dr. Tom Friedan tweeted Monday.

But the CDC is not recommending N95 masks to the general public, partly because of the lack of masks for healthcare professionals and also because of concerns that people will tolerate masks, which can make breathing difficult.

“I worry that if we suggest or require people to use N95, they will not use them all the time,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the new head of the CDC, Anderson Cooper of CNN and correspondent chief physician Dr. Sanjay Gupta in a city hall Wednesday.

“They are very difficult to breathe when you use them properly,” said Walensky. “They are very difficult to tolerate when you use them for long periods of time.”

Proper use and care of your mask

Whichever mask you use, make sure you do it correctly – even during the double mask. Uncovered noses are not allowed. Both masks must pass through the bridge of the nose, below the chin and stay close to the face, resting along the skin, experts say.

When choosing your fabric mask, you should seek a fair weave, according to studies. Use the light test to check the weave: if you can easily see the outline of the individual fibers when holding the mask against the light, it will probably not be effective.

And be sure to clean and dispose of your masks properly. Surgical masks are for single use and if they are dirty or breathing becomes difficult, the mask should be carefully discarded and replaced, the FDA said.

CDC recommends storing all soiled fabric masks in sealed plastic bags until you can wash them.

“Wash wet or dirty masks as soon as possible to prevent them from becoming moldy. Wet masks can be difficult to breathe and are less effective than dry ones,” says the CDC.

Dry your mask completely in a warm or hot dryer, says the CDC, or by hanging it “in direct sunlight to dry completely. If you can’t hang it in direct sunlight, hang it up or place it the line and let it dry completely “.

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