Health experts from around the world have been encouraging people to wear a face mask to protect against and limit the spread of COVID-19. But many people are seen flouting mask rules while others are wearing it incorrectly. At the same time, some people reuse single-use surgical masks or respirators by cleaning them or spraying with sanitizer. If you’re one of them, you need to stop doing it.
Australian scientists have warned against spraying face masks with sanitizer as it can reduce their effectiveness, Xinhua news agency reported.
A study by a research team from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) found that exposing N95 and P2 face masks to alcohol-based sanitizers causes “serious degradation” of their ability to protect from airborne hazards.
Lead author Jurg Schutz stated that alcohol-based hand sanitizer and cleaning solutions could impact the electrostatic properties of the face masks.
He explained: Disposable masks rely on having an electrostatic charge that attracts particles and traps them like a sticky spiderweb. This charge, however, can be destroyed by highly concentrated alcoholic vapours.
Schutz underscored that their study findings would help inform people on how to care for disposable masks.
Cloth masks or N95 or surgical mask- Which one is more effective against Omicron?
Continue wearing your face mask, the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet, and the highly contagious Omicron variant is still spreading. The best way to stay safe from Omicron and others COVID-19 variants is getting vaccinated against the disease and following the COVID safety protocols, especially wearing a mask in public places because masks offer protection against all variants.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends wearing a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high community transmission, regardless of your vaccination status.
A study by a team of German and US experts also concluded that wearing a face mask is better than social distancing at preventing people from catching Covid. They found that wearing a face mask could reduce the risk by up to 225 times, compared to solely relying on a three-metre rule.
Now the question is whether you should be using a cloth mask or N95 or surgical mask and which one is more effective against Omicron.
According to experts, N95 respirators or 3-ply surgical masks are more effective against Covid-19 and its variants than cloth masks.
Because COVID-19 is airborne, a simple cloth mask is not going to protect you, said Leana Wen, MD, an emergency doctor and public health professor at George Washington University.
The US CDC states that N95 respirators can filter up to 95 per cent of air droplets and particles. Even through 3-ply surgical masks are looser-fitting masks, compared to N95 respirators, they can prevent contact with infected droplets in the air better than a cloth mask.
Wearing N95 masks can not only provide higher protection against Covid-19, but also form the increasing air pollution.
Dr Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director and Senior Pediatric Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist, Apollo Hospitals suggests people who have a history of allergies, asthma, bronchitis, or any other respiratory problem, to use an N95 mask. During an interview with media, he said that a fabric mask is not ideal from a pollution standpoint.
With inputs from agencies
