CDC Suggests New York Residents Double Mask To Protect From COVID

The CDC now says wearing two masks significantly protects you from coronavirus.

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On Wednesday, the CDC released a new report "Maximizing Fit for Cloth and Medical Procedure Masks to Improve Performance" to reduce COVID transmission and exposure.

Officials say wearing two masks gives you more protection from COVID than using one mask. The CDC recommends wearing a cloth mask over a medical procedure mask.

The CDC also recommends tying knots on the ear loops of medical masks to provide more protection by pulling the mask closer to the face.

"Knotting the ear loops of a medical procedure mask where they attach to the mask’s edges and then tucking in and flattening the extra material close to the face (knotted and tucked masks), could improve the fit of these masks and reduce the receiver’s exposure," the CDC states.

In a lab test with dummies, exposure to potentially infectious aerosols decreased by 95 percent when the dummy was wearing a cloth mask over a medical mask or when the medical mask had knotted ear loops and tucked-in sides, according to the CDC.

Below is the CDC's guide to masks:

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