Two masks are better at stopping COVID-19 spread than one, CDC study finds




RELATED: Double mask: Fauci says wearing 2 masks may offer more protection from COVID-19



The study had many limitations: The researchers used one brand of surgical mask and one kind of cloth mask, and it's not clear if results would be the same with every product. But it echoes some earlier research that suggests two masks are better than one.

"It works," Brooks said.

In this photo illustration Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website with people wearing facemasks is seen displayed on a smartphone with a background of a computer screen.(Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket vi

The CDC also was updating its guidance to address wearing two masks. If done correctly, a cloth mask worn over a surgical mask can tighten the gaps around the mask's edges that can let virus particles in, the CDC said.


Some Americans have already started doubling up. Experts believe that's at least partly out of concern about new strains of coronavirus that have been found to spread more easily than the one that has driven the U.S. epidemic for the past year


CDC guidance has evolved over the course of the epidemic.


When the COVID-19 crisis began and masks disappeared from store shelves, U.S. health officials actively discouraged the general public from wearing them. "Seriously people - STOP BUYING MASKS!" then-Surgeon General Jerome Adams wrote in a tweet almost a year ago.




"But if a significant proportion of your populations isn't wearing a mask in the first place, then you're having the wrong conversation," he added.

