Dr. Jay Varma, the city hall’s largest public health expert on public health, advises New Yorkers to consider wearing two masks instead of one because of the more contagious variant coronavirus that is spreading around the world.
“I am now starting to wear a surgical mask that is covered by a dust mask,” said dr. Varma said at a briefing Tuesday morning with Mayor Bill de Blasio. “It’s actually the current thinking we have at the moment – that more is probably better, although we are not sure why these new tribes are more contagious.”
The use of more than one mask – often with a cloth over a surgical mask – has come into vogue in the past month after the first variant of concern was announced in the UK. Two versions of the virus have also been found in Brazil and South Africa. To date, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 293 cases of the British variant – 22 of which were detected in New York. Minnesota reported the first U.S. case of Brazil’s variant on Monday, and no state has spotted the South African variant, though experts believe it is here.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet recommended double masking, but dr. Anthony Fauci said that double masking is good as a common sense method to prevent infection. Martin Fischer, a professor of chemistry at Duke University, agrees.
“For many household masks, such as thin cotton masks, protection can increase if doubled,” Fischer said. ‘There may be occasions where this is not true, such as when the resulting double mask is so dense that breath escapes more through gaps, rather than through the mask, or when a well-fitting mask is worn over a bad mask. the pace worsens.
Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine and an expert on infectious diseases at the University of California, told The Washington Post that two layers of masks should be worn in crowded places. She said it would not obstruct breathing and that it could provide protection on par with the N95 masks, the high quality covers worn by medical staff.
Fischer added that N95 masks fit well and are without valves, so they do not need a second coat.
Dr. Varma said stricter guidelines for wearing a mask are expected soon.