Double masking now important more tha ever, say experts

Wearing two masks at a time is an effective technique to improve the fitting and protection provided to the face. Yet, as Covid-19 cases decline, many of us who had started using double masks, have now returned to single masks. Double face coverings, however, are important now, more than ever, as the highly infectious Delta variant continues to spread at the same time when the city is unlocking, and only 10% of the city’s population is fully vaccinated.

As we breathe, talk, cough or sneeze, we expel tiny droplets into the air. Masks mainly help in trapping these droplets into the fibrous layers.

An Indian Institute of Technology (Iit)-bhubaneshwar study published in the journal Physics of Fluids last month stated that combining two masks provides an additional layer of protection and better fitting to minimise the leakage of droplets expelled during coughing, sneezing, talking, and breathing.

Researchers used mannequins along with breathing simulators for the study. They used a combination of water and glycerin to create a fog to visualise the droplets. The IIT researc concluded that a combinatio N95 and a cotton mask was best for safety as well as bre ing comfort. While other co nations like surgical mask N95 or surgical mask and co mask minimised leakage, wearer required more effo breathe.

According to an IIT-BOM study published in October 2 cough of a Covid-19 infected son can contaminate a large ume of surrounding air with virus. The size of cough clou nearly seven times smaller w one wears a surgical mask nearly 23 times smaller with mask, the study stated. “Wit additional mask, one can fur reduce the contamination,” Rajneesh Bhardwaj, assoc professor, department mechanical engineering at Bombay and co-author of study.

As offices open up, manda double masking in closed e ronments can help in redu the risk of infections. “One m does not seal the area aroun nose and mouth properly,” Dr Rahul Pandit, an inten care specialist and membe Maharashtra’s Covid-19 force. “It is the second mask helps seal the mask un neath,” he said.