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This story came out a couple of days ago but I wanted to talk about it. Dr. Fauci did an appearance on The Today Show where he talked about the new strains of the coronavirus as well as vaccines and prevention, of course. President Biden recently blocked travel from South Africa due to a virulent new strain which is different from the more transmissible and deadlier UK variant. (The CDC has more on these new strains and here is an article that helped me understand how they emerge.) Given that coronavirus is mutating to be more easily spread, we have to do what we can to prevent it. Dr. Fauci told Savannah Guthrie that double masking “makes common sense” because it provides extra barriers against the virus.

Anthony Fauci, MD, says wearing two masks is better than one when it comes to warding off the coronavirus.

The purpose of a mask is to prevent droplets and the virus from reaching a person’s mouth and nose, he said on the Today show, so increasing the barriers naturally increases protection.

“If you have a physical covering with one layer, you put another layer on, it just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective,” said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “And that’s the reason why you see people either double masking or doing a version of an N95.”

N95 masks are expensive, and the CDC recommends they be reserved for health care workers, but health experts say double masking is easy and something of a no-brainer.

“Double layering is adding extra filtration, but a lot of the benefit also comes in making sure you are covering those gaps around the mask, because not every mask you put on fits equally.”

[From WebMD]

I’m writing this story because I want to encourage you to double mask now if you are not doing it. I wear a KN95 mask with a cloth mask over it and a visor whenever I got out. I bring a bottle of alcohol spray with me and when I get to my car I wash my hands. (I have a plastic organizing tub from the Dollar Tree with hand soap, a small towel and a bottle of Gatorade filled with water in it.) I am not messing around with this and lately I’ve been tucking my hair up in a beanie so it doesn’t get contaminated when I’m out. I know this sounds paranoid and it is because I or my son could die or get sick with lasting health issues if I’m not careful enough. Now is the time to hunker down until we get the vaccines. (Even after that I’ll still be wearing a mask.) My local grocery store has KN95 masks near the checkout which are just 10 for $10. You can get them on Amazon too, but they’re more expensive. Check locally first. Wear a cloth mask over it and you can even get a visor, but never wear a visor or face shield alone. They don’t have enough protection for you or others.

There’s also news of new vaccines along with news of how effective the existing vaccines are against the new variants. Dustin at Pajiba has a very good writeup about that. Even though the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is said to be only 85% effective against severe coronavirus, it was 100% effective against hospitalization and death. I will take whatever vaccine I can get!

Here’s that interview with Fauci:

That youtube video has almost as many downvotes as it does upvotes. F-k antimaskers they are crazy and are killing people.

Fauci was double masking since at least November!

Amanda Gorman double masking it.

Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg!

photos credit: Avalon.red