American Thoracic Society - PUBLIC HEALTH | INFORMATION SERIES - Face Coverings in a Pandemic

American Thoracic Society PUBLIC HEALTH | INFORMATION SERIES Face Coverings in a Pandemic A face covering is a simple barrier placed over How to wear your face covering1 the face and nose. [...] You ■ Close contact with a person infected with COVID-19 can try putting a knot in the surgical mask elastic loops or touching a contaminated surface are the most and tucking and flattening the extra material to get a common ways that you can become infected. [...] What face covering should I choose? Who needs to wear a face covering? A cloth face covering should contain at least two layers ■ Everyone over the age of 2 years of age. [...] ■ You should consider wearing double masks (such as a cloth mask over a When do I need to wear my face covering? medical procedure mask) that can give ■ Anytime you are out of your house, at work, or in the you better protection. [...] JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association ■ A face covering is different from a respirator as a face • covering is used primarily to protect others, however, it fullarticle/2765525 may protect you as well.