CDC weighs recommending N95 or KN95 masks instead of cloth masks against omicron variant

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Tue, 2022-01-11 10:29 — mike kraft

CDC weighs recommending better masks against omicron variant The agency is likely to recommend that people who can consistently wear N95 or KN95 masks, rather than cloth masks, should do so. Washington Post

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering updating its mask guidance to recommend that people opt for the highly protective N95 or KN95 masks worn by health-care personnel, if they can do so consistently, said an official close to the deliberations who was not authorized to speak publicly.

With the highly transmissible omicron variant spurring record levels of infections and hospitalizations, experts have repeatedly urged the Biden administration to recommend the better-quality masks rather than cloth coverings to protect against an airborne virus, and to underscore the importance of masking.

“The agency is currently actively looking to update its recommendations for KN95 and N95 in light of omicron,” the official said. “We know these masks provide better filtration.”

ALSO SEE: WHO Europe chief urges countries to mandate “high-quality masks”

The updated guidance is expected to say that the best mask is the one that is worn consistently and correctly. N95 masks, which were predominantly used in health-care and industrial settings before the pandemic, are supposed to be individually fitted and are sometimes hard to wear all day, physicians and other health-care personnel have said. The CDC guidance is expected to say that if people can “tolerate wearing a KN95 or N95 mask all day, you should.” ...

N95 masks are approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and are designed to filter up to 95 percent of particles, according to the CDC. KN95s are supposed to meet a comparable Chinese standard, but there is no Chinese regulatory agency ensuring that, said Anne Miller, executive director of Project N95, a nonprofit organization that distributes free N95s and children’s masks in the United States.

The CDC has warned that about 60 percent of KN95s in the United States are counterfeit. However, there are U.S. firms that make KN95s that are of high quality, Miller said.

“Omicron is very transmissible through shared air,” said Julia Raifman, an assistant professor at Boston University School of Public Health. “Mask policies that ensure people with covid and people around them are wearing high-quality masks do the most to reduce covid spread,” she said in an email, adding that other countries, such as South Korea and Japan, have done much more to make the masks widely available.

The government should not only recommend high-quality masks, she added, but also make them available and required in workplaces ...

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