Double masking could be coming to England as health officials look at other ways to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Speaking at Downing Street press conference, Public Health England’s (PHE) Dr Susan Hopkins said: “What we recommend is at least two layers and ideally three layers in a mask.

“That is really important to reduce the virus transmission both from you to others and others to you.”

At the moment, the official advice in the country is to wear a face covering in most indoor settings such as a supermarket but in America, President Joe Biden and the top medical official Dr Anthony Fauci have been spotted wearing more than one mask at a time.

The Government say the practice of wearing face coverings are mainly in force to protect others, not the wearer, against the spread of infection.

Fines are being issued to people those who are ignoring the advice and refuse to wear a mask where they should.

Children under the age of 11 and those with medical exemptions do not have to wear face masks in indoor settings.

Much research has been carried out looking at the effectiveness of masks during the pandemic.

One study recently showed that masks can help to partially block exhaled respiratory droplets, which are thought to be the primary way that the virus spreads, which suggests they could offer the wearer some protection.

Japanese researchers carried out a study using mannequins to see at what distance masks actually provided protection and how much.

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