CDC Officials Recommend Wearing Two Masks

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday urged Americans to consider wearing two masks to protect themselves and others from Covid-19 infection, stressing that the new coronavirus variants in the United States demand that people do all they can to mitigate its spread. 

According to a report released by the CDC, two masks do a much better job than one in blocking particles that may contain coronavirus. A study conducted by the agency found two ways that greatly improve the usefulness of mask-wearing. One is to wear a cloth mask over a surgical mask, and the other is to make one mask fit better by knotting the ear loops and tucking in the sides close to the face to prevent air from leaking out around the edges.

In laboratory experiments conducted by the CDC, these two methods reduced exposure to particles that could be carrying Covid-19 by up to 95%. According to the study, an unknotted surgical mask blocked 42% of particles, a cloth mask blocked 43.3% of particles, while wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask blocked 92.5% of potentially harmful particles.

Additionally, when a double-masked person coughed, the risk of exposure to harmful particles of people near the cougher dropped was reduced by 82.2%.

“We know that universal masking works,” said John T. Brooks, the CDC’s medical officer in charge of the Covid-19 response. “And now these variants are circulating … whatever we can do to improve the fit of a mask to make it work better, the faster we can end this pandemic.”

 

 

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22 COMMENTS

  1. So it’s an airborne virus, which masks do not block, but are still helpful to block droplets. But preventing air from going out the sides will help?

    Excuse me while I put a plastic bag over my face,as plastic bags reduce the risk by 112.7%

    • Please spare us the ignorant comments.

      We all know that air and droplets escapes through the sides. Exhaled air though goes forward and the moisture you exhale will most likely cling to the mask. No, it’s not a guarantee. But it is a measure of PREVENTION.

      Also, just to clear things up… masking has to go together with distancing. One is not a replacement for the other.

      So the two combined provide a high level of protection.

      I know of a very careful individual who was gabbai sheini on a Shabbos. Both gabboim and the baal korei were masked, but they were not socially distant and stood next to each other for 45 minutes during leining. The Baal Korei turned out to be positive for Covid, and both gabboim came down with it a few days later. Lesson learned. You need to mask AND keep your distance.

  2. To Moish and his Plastic Bag friend

    How well has burying the head in the sent worked out for the frum community – yes, in Lakewood, in Brooklyn, in London, and in Eretz Yisroel (where the morbidity and fatal outcomes are 3.5 times higher than among the rest of the country)?

    • so Marc it’s a free country wear your mask, wear two of them. and if you are afraid of getting Covid stay home.

      since everyone thinks it’s ok to make medical decisions based on anecdotal he said / she said i’ll just say that the person i know who was the biggest covidiot and ran around screaming at everyone to put on their masks also finally got Covid (cuz eventually everyone will get it) and not only that he gave it to his elderly mother, and several other people….

      Do what you think is right and stop telling people what to do… there is not one shred of truth reported by anyone in the media or at the CDC it’s all lies

    • I know someone who does testing and she has seem a bunch in some when their antibodies faded and a young man 39 who had it mild the first time was hospitalized with the second time he caught covid when his antibodies faded. Before you feel so confident you won’t catch Covid again don’t forget there are new variants circling around now specifically the South African one that is infecting those that already had coronvirus at a very very high percentage . You can research the studies for yourself.
      With purim coming around we can’t know whats going to happen.. but i don’t have a good feeling.

  3. why can’t the CDC focus on ramping up production of the vaccine and get them out to the school districts where people can get to them instead of trickling them out to the select few?

  4. the only good 2 masks would do is it will make it harder for the demecrats to speak!!!
    why stop at 2 masks???? Just wear the whole box!!
    if you trust the CDC you probably also voted for Joe Biden
    So just wear the whole box plz!

  5. So with this administration we have to honestly ask if the question, was she standing in front of the CDC backdrop but still speaking her own opinion as opposed to what the CDC really holds.

    I will just say one thing, as far as I’m concerned she can drop dead. This is insane and anyone with a half a brain in their head can see it. Suddenly when the rate is going down and the politicians are busy crowing about how the rate is going down, mysteriously immediately after President Trump is out of office I might add, now we have to put on two masks?

    To most of us, this is a bunch of male cow manure!

  6. Because I’m often called a two-faced liar, some of my friends suggested to me long ago that I wear 2 masks, and so I’ve been wearing 2 masks for several months already. Of course, because I am two-faced, I might be lying about all of this, but that’s par for the course for me.

  7. Nobody cared when they thought this virus only affected the older generation. Now you young smart heads are gonna bite ur words coz plenty in your age group are getting re-infected. I don’t care if u wanna kill ur selves but don’t go endangering other peoples lives with ur selfishness and ignorance

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