More is better, CDC says in offering new guidance on anti-COVID-19 mask wearing
Updated Feb 11, 2021;
LOS ANGELES – The question of the hour came from an unlikely source: a bright-eyed 6-year-old in a My Little Pony face covering.
“Why are you wearing two masks?” asked Kennedy Anne Coen, who was hunkered down Wednesday morning in her mom’s Torrance coffee shop, where a corner had been turned into a coronavirus-era classroom. “I’m only wearing one. My mom has one face shield and one mask.”
Why, indeed. That’s actually a better query for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After weeks of tiptoeing around the issue, the agency announced Wednesday that two masks are better than one for protecting wearers from the coronavirus and its various frightening mutations.
The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs on Thursday launched Reimagine Public Art, a virtual exhibition produced by DCA’s Public Art Division that highlights how artists respond to, and reimagine, Los Angeles amidst social, economic and healthcare emergencies.
The L.A. County Metro board of directors approved a $679.4 million total budget for the Interstate 5 North County Enhancement Project in the Santa Clarita Valley on Thursday, setting the stage for the project to move forward with construction of new carpool lanes.
The letter was signed by officials from a host of community groups, including the Alliance for Children s Rights, AltaMed Health Services, Empowering Pacific Islander Communities, Faith and Community Empowerment, Fulfillment Fund, LA s Best, Meet Each Need with Dignity and New Hope Community Church. Several elected officials also signed the letter, including Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes and Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, who this week asked the city to explore legal remedies for expediting school re-openings.
Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Wednesday the county will expand vaccine eligibility to various essential workers in the next two to three weeks, including teachers. But even when teachers become eligible for the vaccine, it will take months to get them fully vaccinated, given the extremely limited weekly allocations of doses the county receives.
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week offered new tips on how to make your mask more effective to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.
The key, scientists said in a report Wednesday, is to make the masks fit better.
Using a loose medical procedure mask or only a cloth mask blocked only about 40% of particles from a simulated cough in tests. But tighter-fitting masks have the potential to reduce exposure to potentially infectious particles by more than 90%, the CDC said.
“Wearing any type of mask performs significantly better than not wearing a mask. And well-fitting masks provided the greatest performance,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC’s director.