New story in Health from Time: When it Comes to Homemade Masks, the Number of Layers Matters, Study Says

With medical grade masks still in short supply and badly needed at hospitals and other care centers, many Americans have turned to a variety of other options to help slow the spread of COVID-19, from hand-sewn facial coverings to bandanas and everything in between. But it turns out that when it comes to preventing viral transmission, not all masks are created equal, according to a new study.

In the study, published Thursday in the journal Thorax, researchers pitted three kinds of facial coverings against one another: a single-layer “no sew” mask, a two-layer variety made to specifications from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and a three-layer surgical mask. Using LED lights, a high-speed camera and a healthy volunteer willing to have their nose repeatedly ticked with a tissue, each variety of facial covering was tested to see which best contained droplets generated from speaking, coughing and sneezing, with the idea that better containment suggests better efficacy in terms of curbing transmission.

“The COVID-19 pandemic and the need for community face masks has raised questions about whether you can just throw a scarf over your face, or whether you should use a better designed cloth mask,” says Raina MacIntyre, a professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales Sydney, and one of the study’s authors.

The result? The surgical mask did the best job overall, but the two-layer CDC mask was still “significantly better” at containing droplets than the single-layer covering. However, the researchers added, “even a single-layer face covering is better than no face covering.”

The results were somewhat unsurprising. Surgical masks are made of multi-layered polypropylene with a water-resistant outer layer, and they’re regulated based on their ability to catch droplets, MacIntyre explains. And the researchers knew from prior studies that cloth masks with more layers generally perform better. “In truth you probably need at least 3 layers,” says MacIntyre. Other factors, like the material, design, fit, and how frequently a mask is washed, also make a difference.

This new study follows a similar effort last month, which found that commercially available cone-style masks and quilted, multi-layer homemade masks that were properly fitted did the best job of containing respiratory droplets, while “loosely folded face masks” and bandanas “provide minimal stopping capability for the smallest aerosolized respiratory droplets.”

Still other studies have the need for facial coverings abundantly clear. Research published in June found that mask mandates in U.S. states were associated with faster declines in daily COVID-19 case growth, estimating that mask rules prevented up to 450,000 cases through late May. A different study, also published in June, predicted that the U.S. could avoid more than 30,000 coronavirus-related deaths though October if at least 95% of people wear masks in public, while another study found that mask wearing could reduce transmission risk from about 17% to roughly 3%.

Of course, the comparative efficacy of various types of facial coverings doesn’t matter if people aren’t covering their faces to begin with. While some cities and states have issued mandatory mask rules, many have not, and the Trump Administration has been reluctant to issue a national mandate. The issue has been politicized across the U.S., perhaps best illustrated by Georgia governor Brian Kemp’s July 16 lawsuit challenging Atlanta’s mask rules and other restrictions despite a worsening outbreak across the state.

Still, most registered U.S. voters now support statewide mask mandates, according to a Politico poll released Wednesday. For those committed to wearing face coverings in order to help keep themselves and others safe, it’s important to know that just tucking your face into your t-shirt might not cut it.

“The main message is that the design of your cloth mask matters—more layers is better than just one layer,” says MacIntyre. She recommends making masks with a water-resistant fabric, like polyester, for an outer layer, as well as having at least three layers and ensuring a good facial fit. “Most importantly,” she adds, “always use a clean mask and wash your used mask daily.”

New story in Health from Time: COVID-19 Has Been ‘Apocalyptic’ for Public Transit. Will Congress Offer More Help?

While trying to get to work over the past few months, Brittany Williams, a Seattle home care worker, has often been passed by two or three buses before one stops to let her board. Buses in her area that once carried anywhere from about 50 to 100 passengers have been limited to between 12 and 18 to prevent overcrowding in response to coronavirus, and Williams’ commute, typically a half-hour ride, now takes more than double that time. Other Seattle transit riders have described budgeting as much as an extra hour per trip to account for the reduced capacity, eating into their time at work, school or with family. Even with the ridership limits in place, Williams, 34, doesn’t feel safe on public transit. Some passengers don’t wear face coverings, and bus drivers sometimes ignore capacity limits, she says. On one ride with her seven-year-old son, she decided to get off at a stop far from her home after a driver allowed a crowd of people to board. “It’s very trying. I’ll put...

New story in Health from Time: An At-Home Coronavirus Test May Be On the Way in the U.S.

As cases of COVID-19 continue to climb in the U.S. , there’s a new urgency to make sure there are as many tests as possible to diagnose people who have symptoms that might indicate an infection. Knowing if people are positive is important for guiding their next steps: self-isolation, avoiding contact with others, and, if their symptoms get worse, seeking medical care. To date, access to tests has been spotty at best across the country, and while more kits are now available than even a week ago , most are gene-based assays that take several days for commercial labs to process and produce results. That may change in about two months if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives Emergency Use Authorization to the first blood-based COVID-19 test in the U.S. Scanwell Health, an at-home test company based in California, licensed the rights to a test developed by Chinese company Innovita, which was used extensively at the height of country’s epidemic earlier this year. “The ...

New story in Health from Time: A Montana Care Home Refused Free COVID-19 Tests. Now, Nearly Every Resident Has Coronavirus

(BILLINGS, Mont.) — It was meant to be a last line of defense to protect the most vulnerable as the coronavirus spread across the United States : Montana officials offered free testing in May for staff and residents at assisted living and long-term care facilities. But not all of them followed through, according to state data, including a facility in Billings, Montana’s largest city, that cares for people with dementia and other memory problems. The virus has infected almost every resident and killed eight, accounting for almost a quarter of Montana’s 34 confirmed deaths. Thirty-six employees also have tested positive at the facility where 59 people lived before the deaths began. Read more: ‘It’s Getting Worse.’ Nursing Home Workers Confront Risks in Facilities Devastated by Coronavirus While Montana’s rates of confirmed infections and deaths are much lower than other parts of the country, the outbreak at Canyon Creek Memory Care illustrates that even the most simple an...

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