N95 Masks and the Rise of New COVID-19 Variants

N95 Masks and the Rise of New COVID-19 Variants

After a long hard year of dealing with COVID-19, most people are, quite frankly, sick of it. And who could blame them? With vaccines being distributed more and more widely, and numbers on a downswing, it can be easy to let your guard down.To get more news about famous FFP2 mask company, you can visit tnkme.com official website.

But even as we approach the finish line, it is important to remember that we aren’t there yet. In fact, officials warn that we might be in store for a 4th wave of COVID-19 infections. More disconcerting? New variants of the virus keep emerging, some of which doctors don’t yet fully understand.

Almost all medical professionals agree that wearing a mask and social distancing are still two of your best bets in helping to save lives and prevent the spread of COVID-19. But when it comes to what kind of mask, that is when things get tricky.

Up until recently, the medical community agreed that N95 masks should be saved for health care providers and that surgical or reusable cotton masks were adequate for most Americans everyday use.

Then a tweet by former CDC Director Dr. Tom Friedan threw a wrench in the works. On January 26th he wrote, “N95 masks are the most protective masks, followed by three-ply surgical masks, then fabric masks. A fabric mask is a lot better than no mask, but we may need to step up our mask game if contagious Covid variants start to spread widely.”

And now N95 masks are popping up online and at retail stores. Is a cloth mask still your best choice or should you consider getting a N95 mask? Is it ethical for an average American to purchase one of these masks? Or is it going to hurt health care workers and other front-line workers? And what about KN95 masks from China?One of the most important things to keep in mind with a N95 respirator is the fit. If your mask does not fit perfectly snug around your entire mouth and chin area, it is not properly protecting you.

When medical professionals receive their N95 respirators at hospitals, they are put through a thorough fit test, which is difficult for the individual consumer to accomplish.

Dr. Irfan Hafiz, infectious disease specialist and Chief Medical Officer at Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital, also warns that when worn correctly N95 masks, while effective, aren’t exactly comfortable:

“An N95 mask does need fit testing to work as it is intended. When an N95 is worn correctly, it is hard to walk and talk in. If you are comfortable in an N95, then you probably aren’t wearing it correctly.”

As of February, 3M, a major US producer of N95 respirators, acknowledged that they have still been struggling to keep up with the demand for their masks.

This fact may be surprising to some, but as the N95 masks are all single use, there has been a constant flow of demand for over a year from hospitals and medical facilities all over the country.

The good news is that most supply-chain issues have been worked out, and the situation is much better than it was at the beginning of the pandemic. And with the rise of private companies companies getting into the game, there should be enough masks to go around, if not now, then in the very near future.


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