{"id":6274,"date":"2021-02-08T08:29:35","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T13:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/?p=6274"},"modified":"2021-02-08T08:29:35","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T13:29:35","slug":"does-wearing-two-masks-provide-more-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/2021\/02\/does-wearing-two-masks-provide-more-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"Does wearing two masks provide more protection?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Original article from Business Mirror <\/strong><strong class=\"article-header__byline article-header__byline--article\"><span class=\"author | align_items_center bold font_primary margin_right_3\"><span class=\"bold\">by Associated Press. February 5<\/span><\/span>, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"lead | border_box gutter_16--desktop gutter_16--tablet relative\">\n<div class=\"lead | border_box gutter_16--desktop gutter_16--tablet relative\">\n<div data-type=\"text\" class=\"card collection-item \">\n<div class=\"card-content card-article\" id=\"\">\n<section class=\"article-section--content hang-punctuation article-section--first article-section--centered\" data-reactid=\"277\">\n<section>\n<div class=\"lead | border_box gutter_16--desktop gutter_16--tablet relative\">\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">It depends, but it\u2019s possible that doubling up could help in some situations.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/prevent-getting-sick\/about-face-coverings.html\">recommends<\/a>\u00a0wearing a cloth mask made with two or more layers, and ensuring it covers your nose and mouth. The agency says it should fit snugly so there aren\u2019t any gaps at the sides of your face.<\/p>\n<p>Wearing just one mask should be enough for most situations, as long as it fits well and isn\u2019t loose, said Dr. David Hamer, an infectious disease expert at Boston University.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarting out with a good mask to begin with is going to be key,\u201d Hamer said.<\/p>\n<p>Still, some people might want extra protection if they\u2019re at risk for severe illness if infected or will be in situations where they expect to be around others for extended periods, such as on a plane.<\/p>\n<p>One option in scenarios when you want extra protection is to wear a cloth mask as well as a regular surgical mask, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco.<\/p>\n<p>Gandhi said that combination \u2014 with either mask on top \u2014 could help achieve a similar effect as the N95 mask. She recommended the added protection for people who will be indoors in areas where transmission rates are high \u2014 which could reflect the circulation of more contagious variants.<\/p>\n<p>Another option Gandhi and a colleague\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cell.com\/med\/pdf\/S2666-6340(20)30072-6.pdf\">recommend\u00a0<\/a>for situations where you want \u201cmaximum\u201d protection: A two-layer cloth mask that has a filter material in between.<\/p>\n<p>With single cloth masks for everyday use, Gandhi noted it\u2019s important that they\u2019re made of tightly woven material and have at least two layers, which creates \u201can obstacle course\u201d that makes it harder for virus-carrying particles to break through.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/businessmirror.com.ph\/2021\/02\/05\/does-wearing-two-masks-provide-more-protection\/\">Click to Read Full Article in Business Mirror<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Original article from Business Mirror by Associated Press. February 5,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6107,"featured_media":6275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3075,1298],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6276,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274\/revisions\/6276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}