Pirate's Cove

Wouldn’t it make sense to push for everyone to wear a mask that can actually work to block viruses, since the majority of what people have been wearing are about as good as wearing them for gloves to stop freezing temperatures, right? Are they better than nothing? Maybe. Would 2 do anything more than create another flashpoint for Extreme Maskers to lose their sh*t when they see someone not wearing two masks?

One Mask Is Good. Would Two Be Better?

Football coaches do it. President-elects do it. Even science-savvy senators do it. As cases of the coronavirus continue to surge on a global scale, some of the nation’s most prominent people have begun to double up on masks — a move that researchers say is increasingly being backed up by data.

Double-masking isn’t necessary for everyone. But for people with thin or flimsy face coverings, “if you combine multiple layers, you start achieving pretty high efficiencies” of blocking viruses from exiting and entering the airway, said Linsey Marr, an expert in virus transmission at Virginia Tech and an author on a recent commentary laying out the science behind mask-wearing.

Of course, there’s a trade-off: At some point, “we run the risk of making it too hard to breathe,” she said. But there is plenty of breathing room before mask-wearing approaches that extreme.

Pretty much most of what people are wearing are “thin or flimsy.” A goodly chunk are just wearing something because they have to, and this isn’t necessarily the fight to have at this time. Ending lockdowns is. But, hey, NY Times, were you can bet “journalist” Katherine J. Wu isn’t walking around the Times building demanding people wear double masks, and isn’t doing it herself.

The arguments for masking span several fields of science, including epidemiology and physics. A bevy of observational studies have suggested that widespread mask-wearing can curb infections and deaths on an impressive scale, in settings as small as hair salons and at the level of entire countries. One study, which tracked state policies mandating face coverings in public, found that known Covid cases waxed and waned in near-lockstep with mask-wearing rules. Another, which followed coronavirus infections among health care workers in Boston, noted a drastic drop in the number of positive test results after masks became a universal fixture among staff. And a study in Beijing found that face masks were 79 percent effective at blocking transmission from infected people to their close contacts.

So, wait, we’re going to use a study from the country which started this and has consistently lied? Really? Oh, and if masks work so well why did infections skyrocket after mask mandates where put in place not just in 31 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico, but nations around the world?

Layering two less specialized masks on top of each other can provide comparable protection. Dr. Marr recommended wearing face-hugging cloth masks over surgical masks, which tend to be made with more filter-friendly materials but fit more loosely. An alternative is to wear a cloth mask with a pocket that can be stuffed with filter material, like the kind found in vacuum bags.

Go away.

No mask is perfect, and wearing one does not obviate other public health measures like physical distancing and good hygiene. “We have to be honest that the best response is one that requires multiple interventions,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, a public health expert at Johns Hopkins University.

Again, masks seem to make people feel like they can blow off social distancing (had to tell a guy in line behind me at Planet Fitness to back off), washing hands, not touching your face, and not touching other people. Double masking? Piss off.

Read: New York Times Super-Excited To Push Double Masking »