Recently, US president Joe Biden along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that fully vaccinated individuals need not wear masks outdoors. However, experts have suggested masks could be necessary for certain settings such as in crowded areas.
On this ground, the research has been continued to see which face coverings could be more effective. The study conducted by the researchers from the Universities of Surrey and Bristol has shown that the multi-layered masks are as effective as surgical masks. The team of researchers went further to say that if both healthy and infected individuals came in contact are wearing well-fitted surgical or cloth masks, the risk of COVID-19 exposure is 94% less.
The research has been published in the Physicals of Fluids journal and focused on three-layered cloth masks. According to the results of this research, in ideal conditions, well-fitted cloth masks showed similar effectivity as surgical masks reducing COVID exposure by 75%.
Although several countries have passed different mandates, World Health Organization (WHO) advises facial coverings in public places.