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WHO: No need to wear two surgical masks

PHILIPPINES CHINA VIRUS

A security officer checks the temperature of tenants of an office building in Manila on February 3, 2020. - The Philippines on February 2 reported the first death from the new coronavirus outside mainland China, as China said February 3 it urgently needed medical equipment and surgical masks as the death toll jumped above 360, making it more deadly than the SARS crisis nearly two decades ago. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — There is no need to wear two surgical masks at the same time, the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to the Philippines said Monday.

Asked in a television interview if it is necessary to wear two kinds of masks at the same time, WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said: “It depends on what kind of mask you are wearing.”

“If you are wearing medical or surgical masks, we don’t think there is a necessity for two masks. I have seen some reports that say if you wear two masks, it is more protective. The question is where do you draw the line? You could say five masks could be more protective than two,” he said over ABS-CBN News Channel.

He said what was important is to wear surgical masks properly and to not touch them often.

“We need to continue to follow hand hygiene, mask-wearing, cough etiquette, and physical distancing. These are the measures that will help us protect ourselves and our loved ones as we wait for the potential arrival of vaccines and an end to this pandemic but that is still a long road,” Abeyasinghe added.

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