Mask debate continues

Should regular citizens be wearing N95 masks?

• Added a recommendation for fully vaccinated people to wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission.
• Added information that fully vaccinated people might choose to wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission, particularly if they are immunocompromised or at increased risk for severe disease from COVID-19, or if they have someone in their household who is immunocompromised, at increased risk of severe disease or not fully vaccinated.
•Added a recommendation for fully vaccinated people who have a known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 to be tested 3-5 days after exposure, and to wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result.

N95 masks for general public?
Prior to 2020, very few people outside the industrial safety and healthcare industries knew what an N95 mask was, however, the general public began seeking out these masks and it became increasingly hard to find at the height of the pandemic. Now, some experts are saying N95s are the way to go, even for the average person.
"Delta is so contagious that when we talk about masks, I don't think we should just talk about masks," Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said during a recent appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I think we should be talking about high-quality masks," such as N95 respirators.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine and an infectious-disease expert at the University of California at San Francisco, expressed a similar sentiment: "We can't say we're going back to masks without discussing type of mask."

Photo: RyanJLane / E+ via Getty Images.

Amid concerns about the rapid spread of the delta variant, "it's a fantastic idea at this point in time to move toward higher-quality masks," especially if you're unvaccinated or otherwise vulnerable to severe disease, said Chris Cappa, an environmental engineer and professor at the University of California at Davis. And for fully vaccinated individuals who may still be at risk of breakthrough infections, he noted, "the delta variant is a good reminder that we shouldn't necessarily quit wearing masks when we're in environments that might be prone to transmission." In a Yahoo News article, Cappa and other experts offered the following advice to consider about the use of N95 masks.
As readers of ISHN already know, not all masks are created equal. The efficacy of a mask is based on its material and fit. Medical-grade respirators, such as N95 masks, can provide greater protection from infectious coronavirus particles than surgical masks or cloth masks, said Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert at Virginia Tech who studies airborne virus transmission.
But, Marr noted, it's important to be wary of counterfeit respirators. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an online guide with lists of N95 masks approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and tips for spotting counterfeit ones.
KN95 masks, which are manufactured in China and can be equivalent to N95s in effectiveness, have not gone through the NIOSH approval process. But the Food and Drug Administration had authorized some KN95s for emergency use by health-care workers when there was a shortage of N95 masks during the pandemic.
Unfortunately, many people are buying N95s without learning how to properly fit them to their face. It's critical to wear N95s properly as any gaps can decrease effectiveness.
Are N95s going to become harder to find yet again as the Delta variant spreads? Let’s hope not.