We need to protect the children until they're old enough to be vaccinated

A file photo from April 2021, when children were briefly allowed back to school. There is a possibility they will return to school once again in October 2021, and keeping them protected when they do is vital as Covid-19 now seems to be affecting younger children. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star

I’m now a double-masker outside my home. Underneath, there is a three-ply disposable surgical mask that is then covered by a double-layered home-made cotton mask which looks a little like a kid's pyjamas because the outside material is in fact old children's clothes. After all, if double-masking is good enough for the director-general of Health, it’s good enough for me.

Two masks are better because they offer two layers of resistance to pathogens. Double-masking also helps because sometimes the outer layer forms a tighter seal around the inside layer, and the two combine to help one another in that "greater than the sum of its parts" sort of way.