What kind of face mask is best for corona virus protection

by Vivek Choudhary Nice life

Despite shortages earlier this year, both hand sanitizer and most disposable, single-use masks have become widely available again. But people continue to use a variety of masks to protect themselves; including handmade and cotton face mask, surgical masks, and N95 respirators.  

The CDC has continued to recommend wearing a cloth face mask with filter when we’re out in public and emphasize their importance in the fight against COVID-19. However, many people are wondering if they really work, what kind of mask is best, and how to keep them clean. The truth is there aren’t many studies comparing the common mask types: cloth masks, surgical masks, and N95 masks. But let’s look at some of the few studies that have tried to provide some insight below.

Handmade and Cloth Face Masks

The CDC recommends wearing a cotton dust proof face mask covering (such as a homemade mask or scarf) when you’re in public places where it’s difficult to maintain social distancing. These are places where there are usually more people — for example, at pharmacies and grocery stores.

COVID-19 can travel up to 27 feet through the air in tiny droplets known as aerosols. That’s a lot farther than the 6 feet we’ve been told for social distancing. Aerosols that contain the coronavirus can be formed when someone coughs, sneezes, or simply breathes out. While it’s unclear if cloth face coverings protect the person wearing them from someone who is infected, they do prevent people who have the infection from spreading it to other people.

According to the CDC, cloth face masks should:

·         Fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face

·         Be secured with ties or ear loops

·         Include multiple layers of fabric

·         Allow you to breathe freely

·         Be able to be laundered and machine dried without getting warped or damaged

It’s important to also remember the group of people that should not wear a face mask for kids. Children under 2 years old, people who have trouble breathing, and people who are unconscious or are unable to remove the covering on their own should not wear face coverings. In these cases, a face covering could potentially suffocate them. 

Different types of materials for a washable face mask (like silk, flannel, cotton, chiffon, and polyester) to test out which could best filter out tiny particles — ones that were much smaller than the particles that carry the Corona virus in the air. They found that a mask with two layers of different fabrics (like cotton-silk, cotton-flannel, and cotton-chiffon) was similar to an N95 mask in this respect. Both blocked about the same amount of similarly small particles from passing through them. 

An important point to note is that the study emphasized proper fit and found that both N95 and handmade masks with gaps between the face and the mask provided far less protection. 

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Created on Dec 22nd 2020 23:29. Viewed 360 times.

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