Home-made face masks need layers to be effective

Homemade face masks likely need at least two layers to curb Covid-19 spread,according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal.

It foundpreferably three layers of cloth were needed to reduce dispersal of viraldroplets from nose and mouth.

A team of Australian researchers compared theeffectiveness of single and double-layer cloth face coverings, with a 3-plysurgical face mask at reducing droplet spread.

They found the surgical facemask was the most effective, followed by a double-layer covering.

They alsonoted that other factors contributed to the effectiveness of cloth face masks,such as the material, fit and washing.