The reason why the US recommends “overwrite the mask”

[이미지출처=EPA연합뉴스]

[아시아경제 조현의 기자] In the United States, experts have recommended that two masks be overlaid to prevent COVID-19 infection. This is to lower the risk of infection even a little in the situation where it spreads to mutant viruses, which have 1.5 times higher transmission power than existing viruses.

On the 28th (local time), CNN reported, “Health officials say that if you wear a mask, you can increase the level of protection from the risk of corona19 infection.”

Anthony Pouch, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview with NBC News recently, “It’s better to put two layers of masks on,” he said.

In fact, President Joe Biden also wore a black cloth mask over a surgical mask during his inauguration on the 20th. In addition to President Biden, at the inauguration ceremony, vice-president Kamala Harris, appointee Pete Booty-jigi, Transportation Minister-nominee, White House spokesman Jen Saki, and Amenda Gorman, a black poet who recited at the inauguration ceremony, wore two overlaid masks.

A study found that wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask is effective in blocking viruses. Prof. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco, and Professor Lindji Ma of the Virginia Institute of Technology, explained that the surgical mask acts as a salivary filter and the cloth mask adds an additional layer, allowing the mask to fit better on the face. Research shows that overlapping a cloth and a surgical mask blocks up to 70% of fine droplets and particles.

Why is it recommended to overwrite a toxic mask in the United States? In the United States, there is an N95 mask that blocks 95% of airborne particles. Like Korea’s K-94 mask, it is a high-performance mask, but due to insufficient supply, it has been provided only to medical workers and emergency responders. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is not even recommending the general public to wear N95 masks.

Some argue that the general public should also wear surgical masks. Tom Frieden, who served as director of the CDC at the time of the Obama administration, emphasized the need for surgical masks, Fox News reported.

Reporter Jo Hyun’s [email protected]