With COVID-19 variants popping up across the country, combined with a slow rollout of vaccines, health experts say masking is more important than ever.
“Most importantly, everyone should wear a mask,” says Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the NIAID.
And according to some experts, not one but two. Members of President Biden’s cabinet agree.
“It just makes sense that it would probably be more effective,” said Fauci.
The CDC does not explicitly recommend double masking, nor does it say the same for an N-95, although the CDC and World Health Organization do recommend multi-layered fabric masks.
“I’m not a doctor. I don’t want to tell someone who has respiratory problems that because they are at high risk for lung disease, they should have a double mask. Those are decisions based on the ability to breathe,” said Vicky Kistler, director of Allentown Health Bureau.
The Allentown Health Bureau is sticking to current CDC guidelines until it says otherwise. Kistler says it’s hard enough to try and get people to wear one mask, let alone double.
“What we’re telling people is that if you have a two-ply cloth mask with a tight seal, you need to be protected,” Kistler said.
If you are one of the lucky few who have been vaccinated, you are not off the mask hook. Experts say that until the community has been immunized and community spread is kept to a minimum, you should still wear one or two, if you want.