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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently studying the effectiveness of double masks – especially a cloth mask placed over a medical mask – in stopping the spread of the coronavirus, but do not yet have “hard data” to determine if that would be better than using just one mask.
“We are not recommending either for or against double masking,” said Dr. John Brooks, CDC chief medical officer responsible for the COVID-19 response. “We want to present all the options available to people. If we can get people to hide the rules, this is the first big step.”
Brooks, who was attending the Infectious Diseases Society of America briefing on Friday, said the agency would “share the information” as soon as possible. He said some evidence suggests that using a cloth and medical mask could block more than 90% or more of viral particles, which would be close to the level of protection offered by N95 masks.
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“You all know that wearing masks remains a key part of the public response to COVID-19,” Brooks said in his opening remarks. “The CDC recommends that everyone over 2 years old wear a mask in public places and around people outside your home.”
Recently, leading experts, such as Dr Anthony Fauci, have touted the effectiveness of two-to-one masks in recent days in helping to stop the spread of the virus.
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“If you have a physical coating with one layer you put on another, it makes sense that that’s probably more effective,” Fauci said during an appearance on TODAY this week. “And that’s the reason you see people doing double-masking or doing some version of N95.”
Currently, the CDC recommends only N95 masks for healthcare workers.
Brooks added that the agency continues to assess the effectiveness of different combinations of materials and warned that sometimes more doesn’t necessarily mean better, referring to the example of multiple condom use. However, if using a double mask makes one person feel safe and another person practices using the mask, they don’t see it as a problem.
“If double masking is an option they would take to using a mask, I would wholeheartedly approve of it,” he said.
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CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told NBC’s “Today” Friday that 59% of Americans wear masks right now.
“There are different types of quality masks and our recommendation is a multi-layered fabric mask or a procedure mask or a medical mask, certainly the N95s provide the best filtration, but in fact they are very difficult to tolerate for long periods of time. , and I think the difference between a two-layer cloth mask and an N95 is relatively small compared to the difference between masking 41% of the US population. “
She said that a cloth mask referred to two or three layers.
When asked Thursday whether the CDC had plans to release new guidelines for double masks, a spokesperson pointed out Fox News to the agency’s current guidelines, which recommends “wearing masks with two layers or more washable and breathable fabric. “
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