Neck gaiters used to cover a person’s face might be worse than not wearing a mask at all, according to a recent study.
Mandates for mask use in public during the coronavirus pandemic, amplified by a worldwide shortage of commercial supplies, have led to the widespread use of homemade masks and other face coverings, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“You can really see the mask is doing something,” said one of the study’s co-authors, Warren S. Warren, a professor at Duke University. “There’s a lot of controversy, and people say, ‘Well, masks don’t do anything.’ Well, the answer is some don’t, but most do.”
The federal government has recommended the public wear face coverings to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact,” President Trump said last month.
The Duke study tested 14 different types of masks, including those with N-95 respirators, cloth coverings, and neck gaiters. The cloth coverings were deemed to be most effective in containing the spray of germs from a person’s mouth when speaking at a less than a 6-foot distance. Masks with respirators showed mixed results, and neck gaiters displayed the worst results.
“These neck gaiters are extremely common in a lot of places because they’re very convenient to wear,” Warren said. “But the exact reason why they’re so convenient, which is that they don’t restrict air, is the reason why they’re not doing much of a job helping people.”
More than half of states have some form of mask mandate. As of Tuesday, more than 5 million cases of the coronavirus have been reported in the United States, and 163,000 Americans have died of the resulting disease.
