The super contagious omicron variant is spreading across the United States, causing a dramatic increase in cases and overwhelming many hospital systems. In addition to urging Americans to get vaccinated and booster vaccinated, public health officials are recommending that people trade in their cloth masks for higher-quality medical masks.
What exactly does this suggestion mean?
In a recent hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions , top public health officials sported different types of masks. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), wore a surgical mask under a cloth mask, while Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the president, wore a N95.
Some local governments and organizations have their own regulations. Los Angeles County, for example, will require employers to provide N95 masks beginning January 17. or KN95 to employees.
In late December, the Mayo Clinic began requiring all visitors and patients to wear surgical masks instead of the cloth versions. The University of Arizona has banned cloth masks and asked everyone on campus to wear higher-quality masks.
Questions about protection What COVID masks provide, whether cloth, surgical, or high-end medical-grade, have been the subject of debate and discussion since the early days of the pandemic.
But as science changes, so do points of view.
The CDC has not updated its guidance on masks since October 2021, before omicron came out. That guidance does not recommend the use of an N95 respirator, only stating that masks must have at least two layers, fit snugly, and contain a wire that fits in the nose. Media reports indicate the agency may soon recommend regular use of an N95 or KN95 respirator.
Multiple experts would appreciate the change, saying that this is the right time. But they do not dismiss cloth masks, because they say that wearing a cloth mask is better than not wearing any.
“From what we know about how covid is transmitted and about omicron, wearing a higher quality mask is really critical to stopping the spread of this variant,” said Dr. Megan Ranney , academic dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
A large-scale, real-world study conducted in Bangladesh and published in september 2021 showed that surgical masks are more effective in preventing the transmission of covid-19 than masks cloth.
Therefore, an easy strategy to improve protection is to place a surgical mask under the cloth, which provides a best layer of protection. Surgical masks can be purchased online at a relatively low price and can be reused for about a week.
Ranney said he advises people who choose to wear layers to wear the best quality mask, such as surgical, closest to the face, and the lowest quality on the outside .
If you have to recycle, Dr. Stephen Luby, professor of infectious diseases at Stanford University and one of the authors of the study masks from Bangladesh, said you can also wash your surgical masks and reuse them.
“During the study, we told the participants that they could wash surgical masks with laundry detergent and water, and reuse them,” Luby said. “You lose some of the effect of electrostatic charging, but they still outperformed cloth masks.” (Part of the way surgical masks effectively filter particles is through electrostatic charging on the mask).
But experts say that wearing a KN95 or N95 is the best protection against omicron, as these masks are very effective in filtering viral particles.
The “95” in the names refers to the filtration efficiency of the 95% of masks against particles of a certain size. N95 masks are regulated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, while KN95 are regulated by the Chinese government and the KN94 by the South Korean government.
At the start of the pandemic, Americans were urged not to purchase surgical or N95 masks, to ensure there was a sufficient supply for healthcare workers. But now there are enough for everyone.
Therefore, if the person has the resources to upgrade to an N95, KN95 or KN mask , you definitely should, said Dr. Leana Wen, a professor of health policy and management at George Washington University. Although these models are more expensive and can be more uncomfortable, the investment is worth the security they provide, he explained.
“It is a much more contagious virus, so there is a much smaller margin of error regarding activities that you could previously do without getting infected,” Wen said. “We have to increase our protection in every way, because now, by omicron, everything is riskier.”
Wen also said that although these masks are characterized as single use, unless you are in a healthcare setting, KN95 and N94 can be used more than once. She herself uses her KN95 for more than a week.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that there are many counterfeit N95 and KN95 masks being sold online, so consumers should be careful when ordering them and make sure you only get them from a legitimate provider.
The CDC maintains a list of N respirators NIOSH approved. Wirecutter and The Strategist have published guides to buying approved KN95 and KN94 skins. Ranney also recommends checking out the website, Project N95, or engineer Aaron Collins’ “Mask Nerd” YouTube channel.
But, even if you update the masks, you are still worried about omicron, the first thing you can do is get vaccinated and get the booster (booster), said Dr. Neal Chaisson, assistant professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.
“There has been talk a lot that people who have been vaccinated get infected with omicron,” Chaisson said. “But I have been working in intensive care and probably 95% of the patients we are seeing at the moment did not follow the advice to get vaccinated.”
KHN (Kaiser Health News) is the newsroom of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation), which produces in-depth journalism on health issues. Along with Policy Analysis and Surveys, KHN is one of the three main programs of KFF. KFF is a nonprofit organization that provides health information to the nation.