A medical expert recently emphasized the need to wear a surgical mask instead of the one made with cloth material to ensure protection from the COVID-19 virus.
A report from the People site said, with the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 has continued spreading at a worrying rate, some medical experts have urged all people to reassess what masks they are opting to put on.
According to emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN Medical Analyst and visiting at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, cloth masks are slightly more than facial ornaments.
She added, there is no place for face masks made of this material in light of omicron. She added, there is a need for people to wear at least a three-ply surgical mask. She said, too, that referring to the regular disposable face-covering available at most pharmacies and general good shops.
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3M brand N95 particulate respirators are displayed on a table on July 28, 2020, in San Anselmo, California
Mask Remains a Priority
One can also wear a cloth mask, she continued, on top of that, although he cannot just put a cloth mask alone. The call to null cloth masks contradicts the mask-wearing recommendations from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, encouraging masking with "two or more layers of" washable, breathable fabric for all people.
Such recommendations were last updated in late October, about one month before the first occurrences of the Omicron variant were identified in South Africa.
Wen also said that ideally, one needs to wear a KN95 or N95 mask, which conflicts with the CDC, who still claims that masks, specifically branded as "surgical N95 respirators," need to be prioritized for the medical frontliners.
While the prioritization was recommended early on in last year's pandemic, it has been several months since the supply of N95 masks has been a problem, explained Wen.
She added, if we're one is to go as far as to say that masks are required, when one does not come from a mask-wearing culture, he then does not like wearing mas, at least recommend that they were the most effective face-covering against COVID-19.
N95 Masks More Effective in Filtering Tiny Aerosols and Large Droplets
According to a CNN report, associate professor of biology Erin Bromage, from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth said, while cloth masks can filter and block massive droplets from the respiratory tract of an infected person, more effective masks like N95s can filter both smaller aerosols and large droplets, and particles that have been proven to transfer and spread COVID-19 infection.
Unfortunately, epidemiologist Michael Osterholm from the University of Minnesota said there had been a lot of misinformation that has come out about wearing face masks that it has turned out to be polarized.
In separate research, the CDC did note that the filtration efficacy of cloth masks is, in general, lower than that of medical masks and respirators although, cloth masks may offer some shield if well designed and properly used.
In addition, a science brief that came out early this month by the CDC said, upwards of 80 percent blockage has been attained in human experiments, with cloth masks in certain research carried out on par with surgical masks as blockages for source regulation.
Related information about the use of cloth face masks is shown on Infection Control Today's YouTube video below:
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