The Indian mutant strain strikes again! Is wearing a two-layer mask more effective at preventing viruses? Doctor: The key is to wear them in the right order
Recently, the local epidemic has gradually slowed down, so the Epidemic Command Center also announced that the epidemic prevention alert has been lowered from Level 3 to Level 2. Shuangbei City also announced on August 3 that restaurants will be opened for indoor use simultaneously, and many companies have also informed employees to resume operations. The company’s working model shows that Taiwan has gradually emerged from the haze of level three alert and is one step closer to normal life. However, the number of patients diagnosed with the Indian Delta variant has skyrocketed again in various countries, including the United States, China, South Korea and other countries, where outbreaks have been reported, causing concern from all walks of life. Former Vice President Chen Jianren recently posted on Facebook that the virus should be obtained as soon as possible The largest amount of vaccines to respond to the threat of mutant viruses shows that Taiwanese people still cannot take their personal epidemic prevention measures lightly.
According to current data, the Delta variant virus is 1.7 times more contagious, which is undoubtedly a major challenge in the next stage of the epidemic. Only Taiwanese people must work together to prevent the epidemic and reduce going out and social contact to have a chance to reduce the risk of another outbreak. Intensivist Huang Xuan reminded that people have recently started to wear “two-layer masks” due to concerns about virus infection. They should pay attention to the correct method when wearing them to avoid allergies or even heat exhaustion.
Wearing a double-layered mask of the same material has no effect. Medical masks need to be paired with cloth masks to be effective.
Dr. Huang Xuan said that based on the report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if you are used to wearing a double-layer mask, you should avoid using the “same material” for both masks, such as N95 Masks or medical masks are basically not more helpful in isolating viruses. Wearing a double-layer N95 mask may even cause the carbon dioxide concentration in the mask to be too high, which will only make it more difficult to breathe; and it is now the hot summer, so you have to be careful about skin allergies caused by wearing a mask that is too stuffy. In severe cases, it may cause skin allergies. Possibility of heat exhaustion.
Therefore, the US CDC recommends that if you want to use a double-layer mask to protect against the virus, you need to wear the medical mask first, and then wear the “cloth mask” on the outside of the medical mask. It is indeed more protective than wearing only one medical mask. However, if you wear it in reverse (cloth mask included, medical mask outside), the effect will be much worse. Dr. Huang Xuan believes that cloth masks can increase the tightness of medical masks, and the key to preventing viruses from invading the mouth and nose is whether the mask is tight. The sides of medical masks, above the bridge of the nose, and the chin are often affected by people’s head movements too much. This causes displacement, making it easy for air to take advantage of the gap, and people are often unaware of it.
Tips to upgrade the protective power of masks. People with poor cardiopulmonary function should beware of difficulty breathing.
To increase the tightness of the mask, you don’t have to wear only two layers of masks. Using some tricks to make the mask fit better can also achieve the purpose of preventing viruses. Dr. Huang Xuan gave an example. You can tie a knot near the seam between the mask and the ear straps. After tying knots on both sides, the mask can fit the face more closely and provide better protection. This method is also suitable for people with smaller faces (such as women or children). Dr. Huang Xuan added that according to foreign experiments, both parties wearing masks use the “mask knotting method”, which can effectively reduce 95.9% of suspended particles entering the mouth and nose when talking.
However, Dr. Huang Xuan reminds that wearing a two-layer mask is not suitable for everyone. For example, people with low immunity will be more likely to get sick due to the breeding of bacteria in the mask if the mask is wet due to the hot weather; and those with poor cardiopulmonary function, Patients with heart failure and lung disease also need to pay special attention to wearing a two-layer mask, which may make breathing more difficult.
In general, adding an extra layer of mask protection is indeed one of the ways to prevent the epidemic. However, the key point of wearing a mask is not “how many layers to wear” but “whether it fits tightly.” If you wear a two-layer mask and still expose your nose and chin, it will have no anti-epidemic effect. I would like to remind everyone that to prevent the epidemic, you must wear a mask well, fully, and tightly when going out. Taking every protective measure well can help prevent the epidemic to be more efficient and usher in normal life as soon as possible.
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