Double mask debate highlights importance of tight seal around nose and mouth Peter Krouse, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced findings last week that suggest wearing two masks enhances your protection against the coronavirus by creating a tighter seal around your nose and mouth.
Yet some medical experts have long maintained that the chief benefit to wearing two masks is the increased filtration rather than the tighter fit, that two masks provide extra layers to capture any infected droplets you might exhale or inhale.
So, cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer contacted both medical experts and mask designers for the latest thinking on the question of one mask or two. Here is what we found:
LEFCO Worthington s new venture aims to make better masks in the U.S.
Cleveland PPE
Cleveland PPE’s clean room occupies about 6,000 square feet at LEFCO Worthington’s facility on Euclid Avenue.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the long-standing overseas supply chains the U.S. relied on for personal protective equipment such as masks weren t enough to satisfy demand. The pandemic also disrupted business for many manufacturers whose products were suddenly in less demand. Making needed PPE was a way for companies to help out and to buoy their bottom lines.
But now, some companies see PPE as a growth opportunity for the future.
Maine bought over 2 million potentially counterfeit masks now subject to recall
About 161,000 of the possibly fake N95 respirators have been distributed to school nurses, health care facilities and state workers in Maine since November and are now part of a nationwide recall and replacement effort.
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Maine purchased more than 2 million potentially counterfeit N95 respirators that are now part of a nationwide recall and replacement effort, and 161,000 of the masks have been distributed to school nurses, health care facilities and state workers in Maine since November.
The 1860 mask
Photo courtesy of Maine Division of Procurement Services
Maine’s Division of Procurement Services has notified respirator recipients and initiated a process to replace the masks as supply allows. About 2 million of the respirators with lot numbers subject to the recall remain at state warehouses.