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.
