Surgical masks or double masks? Gul Panag, Sona Mohapatra share ideas amid COVID surge

The emergence of multiple variants of COVID-19 has taken a toll on the global fight against coronavirus and many countries have been facing a challenging time. India too has been one of the worst affected, with over 3 lakh daily cases being recorded recently. Amid the dangerous spurt in cases, the efficacy of different kinds of face masks has become a point of debate, and this was addressed by Gul Panag and Sona Mohapatra.

Gul Panag and Sona Mohapatra on masks amid COVID-19 cases jump

Gul Panag posted a picture of herself in a cloth mask and surgical mask, and shared her thoughts watching with ‘helplessness’ the collapse of the healthcare infrastructure. The actor wondered how many people who did not take their masks off were also contracting the virus and hence decided to indulge in some ‘reading’ on it. 

She concluded upon her research that surgical masks were better as many experts had claimed so. Gul wrote that surgical masks had three layers, the outer layer preventing the entry of fluids, the middle layer the entry of germs, and the exiting layer absorbing water and other fluids. The Hello star stated that she had heard about Germany enforcing a rule on the mandatory use of surgical masks at the airport. 

She also stated that some were using double masks and called it as a ‘more the merrier’ idea. 

Singer Sona Mohapatra tried out the double mask idea, stating that a cloth mask over a surgical mask made the masking close to ‘95 per cent effective.’ 

Meanwhile, India added a record over 3.32 lakh new coronavirus cases in a single day taking the country's tally to 1,62,63,695, while active cases crossed the 24-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll increased to 1,86,920 with a record 2,263 new fatalities.

(With PTI inputs)