Double-Up for Safety
This is Super Bowl week so let’s lead with a football analogy in the fight against the COVID-19 virus. “The best offense is a great defense” has been used as a way to deal with teams who have a great offense: if you stop them from keeping the ball, they can’t do much scoring. That appears to be a good strategy used to keep from getting COVID-19, especially as new strains appear.
The CDC does not recommend wearing two masks because there’s no science to support it, and I haven’t found a single study on double-masking. But it does make sense from this perspective: if wearing one mask is 50% effective, which it appears to be, wearing two may increase it to 75% effective. Remember the Swiss Cheese COVID Protection approach to reducing infection? No single approach works perfectly but put all of them together, and they can significantly reduce the risk of catching the virus.
I’ll take it one step further. Wear two masks when you’re going to be in one place for a long time. I double-mask when I work out: a cloth mask over a surgical mask. With restaurants opening in more states, it’s probably a good idea there as well. With shopping, if you’re standing talking with someone, yes. If you’re picking up and buying something like restaurant takeout, maybe yes and maybe no because you still may have to wait in line. Remember: respect, not fear.
Super Bowl Webinar
My 11th Annual Super Bowl Webinar is Sunday at 3 p.m. ET; Aging with a Vengeance is the theme. I’m going to provide attendees strategies on four aspects of aging and specific ideas on how to address each issue, all in about an hour. Join me Sunday afternoon, but if you can’t, I’ll have a replay available for viewing later. Sign up today. Members and Insiders: remember to sign in to drchet.com first to get your discount.
What are you prepared to do today?
