IN some corners of the world, getting people to wear one facemask has been a challenge. Now some public health experts are recommending “double-masking” as part of the battle against coronavirus and virulent new strains. 

 

Two masks at once?

That’s the latest advice from Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, who says “double-masking” makes “common sense”, particularly as new strains emerge, saying sporting two masks “likely does” help protect people.

 

He was sidelined by Donald Trump?

President Trump and Dr Fauci clashed on the US government’s approach to handling the pandemic, with Fauci saying in an interview with The Atlantic earlier this week “Trump would put anecdote on the same level as scientific data”. He is now back in the White House advising President Biden, who has already issued an executive order implementing a 100 Days Masking Challenge for American politicians to encourage stricter state-level Covid-19 measures.

 

Dr Fauci has always supported masks?

Early on in the pandemic, he and the US Surgeon General Jerome Adams actually didn’t advise Americans to wear masks, but Dr Fauci went on to say last summer that he was acting “in the context of the time” when there was a “serious problem with the lack of masks for health providers”, adding: "When it became clear that the infection could be spread by asymptomatic carriers who don't know they're infected, that made it very clear that we had to strongly recommend masks.”

 

Now?

He supports wearing two masks, saying the purpose of a mask is to prevent droplets and the virus from reaching a person’s mouth, so increasing the barriers increases protection. On America’s Today show earlier this week, he said: “If you have a physical covering with one layer, you put another layer on, it just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective and that’s the reason why you see people either double masking or doing a version of an N95.”

 

N95?

N95s are respirator masks of  the type worn by frontline medics treating coronavirus patients that offer more protection than surgical masks.

 

But not everyone agrees?

Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota who is also a Biden adviser, said he believes more data is required to back up the success of double-masking. He told Radio.com, “I do not support the idea of two masks”, saying that wearing two cloth masks “impedes the air coming through and makes it blow in and out more and more along the sides, the fit becomes even less effective”, adding that it “could be a detriment to your protection”.

 

It’s already a trend, however?

Poet and activist Amanda Gorman was among those seen double-masking at the inauguration, while President Biden is often seen in two masks, as is Vice President Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, the term “doublemasking” trends daily on social media.