A Harvard health expert argued on Tuesday that everyone in the U.S. should wear N95 masks to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Joseph G. Allen, the director of the university’s Healthy Buildings program, wrote an opinion article in the Washington Post and said that “there is no reason for any essential worker – and really, everyone in the country – to run out of masks that filter 95% . “
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His proposal came a day after Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top disease expert, said in an interview that the use of two cloth masks “probably” offers more protection for the user.
“So, if you have a physical cover with one layer, put on another layer, it makes sense that it’s more effective. That’s why you see people wearing a double mask or making a version of an N95.”
President Biden said on Tuesday that the masks are “the best defense against COVID-19” in the coming months, as his government acquires a sufficient supply of vaccine to inoculate most Americans.
“The brutal truth is that it will take months before we can get most Americans vaccinated – months,” said Biden. “In the coming months, masks, not vaccines, are the best defense against COVID-19. Experts say that wearing masks from now until April would save 50,000 lives that would otherwise die if we didn’t use them.”
Fauci’s comment was criticized on social media. Some asked why the country was not instructed to wear double masks at the beginning of the outbreak, and others asked – with that logic – wouldn’t three masks be more effective than two?
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Scientists continue to learn more about the disease that can be transmitted. The Wall Street Journal reported that, a year after the pandemic began, we know that wearing masks and good airflow inside buildings are more effective in preventing transmission than cleaning the surface.
Allen wrote that if two people used N95, it would result in an “exposure reduction greater than 99%”.
“Think about it for a minute. We could reduce the exposure by 99 percent by what should be $ 1 a mask. (Prices are higher now because of the failure to produce an adequate supply.) Play in better ventilation and some distance between people, and you have hospital-level protections, “he wrote.
Thomas Barrabi of Fox News contributed to this report