It may be time to update your face mask or start using two of them, as doctors believe it will provide more protection against more contagious strains of the coronavirus.
According to the Washington Post, there is currently a debate about whether Americans should be encouraged to wear two masks at the same time or whether the high-quality masks normally reserved for healthcare professionals should be made available to the public. Some officials are concerned that encouraging the widespread use of KN95 and N95 could prevent people from wearing masks due to discomfort.
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I just have to say that after hearing how my father fought the disease and seeing friends lose their parents to her, I think it’s safe to say that taking COVID is probably a little more uncomfortable than wearing an N95 mask.
Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Washington Post that he favors the use of better quality masks by the public. “The existence of more transmissible viruses emphasizes the importance of improving our game and not doing more of it, but better of it. Yes, this is confusing for people, but the key is to share what we know when we know and to be frank about what we don’t know, ”Frieden told the Washington Post.
Linsey Marr, an engineering professor at Virginia Tech who researched the effectiveness of the masks, told the Post that if people fail to acquire a medical-grade mask, wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask can provide a similar level of protection.
“These standard fabric masks can be about 50% effective in terms of personal protection,” Marr told the Post. “Perhaps that was good enough before, when combined with the distance and the attempt to avoid being crowded indoors.”
Considering that we have been in the pandemic for almost a year and only now we have a government taking it seriously, it should come as no surprise that other countries are further ahead in the manufacture and distribution of high quality masks. Countries like Singapore and South Korea have already started mass producing high quality masks to distribute to the public, and several European countries have issued warrants for medical-grade masks to fight the new strain, which is believed to be 70 percent more contagious.
Officials told the Washington Post that there was an effort by the Trump administration in the early days of the pandemic to get underwear companies to make at least five masks for every American family, but those plans failed because, well, it was an effort by the administration Trump. I mean, one of the complaints about the masks manufactured by the underwear companies was that they looked … underwear.
So yes, let’s move on with this sentence, because I can’t do it with nonsense.
From the Washington Post:
The CDC encourages Americans to choose well-fitting masks with “two or more layers of washable, breathable fabric” and to avoid surgical masks and other facial covers for healthcare professionals.
President Biden adopted the masks as a central strategy to end the pandemic, requiring facial coverage on planes, airports and all federal buildings. But he did not ask for a medical-grade mask mandate or the mass production of high-quality masks.
The CDC and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Some public health experts said the federal government should have given priority to certification or the manufacture of better masks before, so that Americans don’t have to fend for themselves to avoid fakes or update theirs.
There are concerns among officials that the mask policy update may be poorly received by the public due to how politicized the use of masks has become in the past year. The GOP did an excellent job convincing half the country that protecting itself from a new and potentially fatal virus was in some way a violation of its rights. It also did not help that medical authorities discussed the need to wear a mask during the beginning of the pandemic, with experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying that they were not needed to fight the spread of the disease in the United States. early days of the pandemic.
“When you look at leaders and see mixed messages like the ones you saw in the past, you tend to stick to the ones that make you feel comfortable,” David Abrams, professor of social and behavioral health at New York University told the Washington Post .
“Let’s face it: this is changing very quickly and science is progressing and sometimes we even make mistakes and correct them. There is nothing wrong with that or learning to do something better. The double mask is a good example of this, ”added Abrams.
All I can say is this: last year, blacks contracted this disease disproportionately, and COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death for blacks last year. I’m not a scientist, but if wearing two masks can provide even a little more protection against virus infection and potentially prevent more Black Death, then you can get your double-masked boy in the near future.
So, as always, avoid dating, wash your hands and wear a mask (s).
Originally published