Because of Omikron – “Cloth masks are little more than face jewelry”

It is high time to adapt the mask to the Omicron variant, advised “CNN” medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen, emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, on Tuesday.

“Cloth masks are little more than face decorations,” she added. According to this, a face cover made of fabric is 75% leaky, both inwards and outwards. Cloth masks – which were recommended at the beginning of the pandemic – can filter large droplets, while more effective masks like FFP2 masks can filter both large droplets and smaller aerosols or particles that are potentially contagious.

Ideally, the mask should therefore be at least three-layer and surgical – as available in drug stores and some grocery and retail stores. Who sums it up like this: “If you only have a cloth mask, it’s still better than nothing. But you are not well protected and you should know that. So if you go into a crowded interior and all you have is a cloth mask, then don’t go. “

Various European countries, including Germany and Austria, have already adjusted their standards so that the mask worn in public must be at least a surgical mask of medical quality. The Swiss also confirmed on Tuesday physicist and aerosol researchers Ernest Weingartner, lecturer for measurement and sensor technology at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland in Brugg-Windisch AG the “Tagesanzeiger” (paid item) that it is now particularly important to wear FFP2 masks.

And that too German Max Planck Institute confirms: FFP2 masks protect around 75 times better against corona than simple hygiene masks – if they are worn correctly. “A mask can be perfectly adapted to the shape of the face if you bend its metal bracket into a rounded W before putting it on”. Then the contagious aerosol particles can no longer get past the mask and glasses no longer fog up.

However, as experts also agree: When buying, attention should be paid to the quality and certification of the medical masks. A CE certification with a four-digit test number must be printed on the mask (only the CE mark without a number is not sufficient). The check number can again be checked here.