Actually I wouldn’t have a problem with tape if it was duct tape. Given the circumstances I’d put a few layers on. The gauze is just weird.
thinking about it, the bit of gauze, likely single layer, would be pulled deeper into the hole by a leak. It’s pretty pliable so it’s not going to put any extra force on the hole. Also acts as an insulator to the tape and expands the surface area the tape can stick to, to help the tape resist any inward to outward pressure. It’s not a good idea to use to strengthen epoxy tho, because cotton thread doesn’t have good tensile strength.
We don’t know what surface preparation was done to the hole after the original plug popped, but if it wasn’t reamed, then the Ruskies put new epoxy on top of shreds of old epoxy with a prayer the remaining old epoxy would hold. Another recent headline said the epoxy fix has already developed a bubble, so either it’s curing too fast and the solvents are accumulating in a bubble, or there’s still a leak, at the base of the bubble. The problem gets a bit more complicated because the final fix now has to deal with two failed applications of epoxy.
Carbon fiber braided lamination saturated with epoxy?