Double-masking, or wearing a cloth face covering over a medical procedure mask, increases a person’s protection against exposure to COVID-19 virus particles by more than 90%, according to an analysis released by the CDC.
Feb.10 (UPI) — Double-masking, or wearing a cloth face covering over a medical procedure mask, increases a person’s protection against exposure to COVID-19 virus particles by more than 90%, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, when two people in close contact are both double-masking or wearing properly fitted medical procedure masks over their nose and mouth, protection against coronavirus transmission increases by more than 95%, the data showed. The findings highlight the importance of good fit to maximize overall mask performance, the agency researchers said. „Controlling [COVID-19] transmission is critical not only to reduce the widespread effects of the… pandemic on human health and the economy, but also to slow viral evolution and the emergence of variants,“ CDC researchers wrote in the analysis. „Until vaccine-induced population immunity is achieved, universal masking is a highly effective means to slow the spread of [the virus]… [and] the data in this report underscore the finding that good fit can increase overall mask efficiency,“ they wrote. Experts first proposed the use of double-masking approaches to reduce the amount of virus particles emitted from the nose and mouth of those infected when new strains of COVID-19 emerged and began to spread across the country.
