With the arrival of more contagious variants of Covid-19, the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) recommends avoiding certain masks that would be ineffective.
The British variant of Covid-19, arrived in France, is a game-changer regarding mask recommendations. On Monday, January 18, 2021, the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) declared that it is now necessary to use category 1 reusable fabric masks, which filter aerosols by more than 90%, and surgical masks (which themselves, filter at 95%), can we read on BFMTV. And no longer homemade fabric masks and category 2 masks. "On the occasion of the penetration in Europe of certain new variants of interest – more transmissible while the modes of transmission have not changed – the question arises of the category of masks that can be offered in the population general ", explained Didier Lepelletier, co-chair of the HCSP Covid-19 working group, on the continuous information channel. Remember that the standards for these masks are set by Afnor (French Association for Standardization).
The importance of filtering to counter variants
Category 1 masks are a real weapon against the spread of the virus, recalls the health professional. Delivered by manufacturers and "validated by the General Directorate of the Armed Forces, in terms of performance, they are as effective as surgical masks", added Didier Lepelletier. Category 2 masks "filter a little less well". Their efficiency is greater than 70%. No checks have been made on the performance of handcrafted masks. They should therefore be avoided. As for FFP2 masks, filtering at least 94% of aerosols, generalize them on a large scale "is not necessarily a good thing because we will not be able to control (that they are) well portés " and "adapted to the morphology of the face", he also indicated.
Invited on the set of France Inter this Tuesday, January 19, 2021, Olivier Véran Minister of Solidarity and Health, specified that "almost all industrial masks" in fabric remains valid. "All masks whose filtering power is greater than 90% remain valid", Regarding "almost all industrial masks for the general public".
Our selection of surgical masks
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In addition to masks, the HCSP insists on respecting a safety distance of 2 meters and not more than 1 meter between each person.