By JUSTIN EVANS
Staff Writer
Public health officials are currently advising everyone to double the amount of masks they wear to thoroughly protect themselves from COVID-19 and its multiple variants. Although studies show that just one two or three-ply fabric masks are partially protective against COVID-19, the associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health says that wearing a surgical mask under a cloth mask will result in over 91% removal efficiency for particles. Another option that is encouraged by public health officials is to wear a flexible three layer mask with an efficient filter included. Public health officials encourage individuals to wear both masks over the bridge of the nose and below the chin, clean and dispose of masks properly, and to wash dirty masks as soon as possible to prevent them from becoming moldy.