MANILA - There is no need to wear 2 surgical face masks on top of each other in an effort to stem the transmission of COVID-19, the representative of the World Health Organization to the Philippines said Monday.

Asked if it's necessary to wear 2 masks, Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said: "It depends on what kind of masks you are wearing."

"If you are wearing medical or surgical mask, we don’t think there’s a necessity for 2 masks...What is more important is you wear the mask appropriately and not be touching it all the time and ensure that you follow hand hygiene," he told ANC's Headstart.

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He acknowledged that some reports indicated that wearing 2 masks is "more protective," but the question arises as to "where do you draw the line?"

"You could say 5 masks could be more protective than 2," he said.

Abeyasinghe instead emphasized what had been the WHO's advice since the COVID-19 breakout in the country last year: continue following hand hygiene, mask-wearing, cough etiquette, and physical distancing.

"These are the measures that will help us protect ourselves and our loved ones as we wait for the potential arrival of vaccines and an end to this pandemic but that is still a long road," he said.

There is a total of 525,618 cases in the country as of Sunday, with 10,749 deaths and 487,551 recoveries.

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