all over the world people are now
covering their faces
in a million different ways there's a
lot of choice about what type to wear
and in some countries the advice is
changing as we learn more about how the
virus spreads
so what are the options well a homemade
face covering is the simplest and
cheapest
and it was promoted in 2020 because of
worries about
shortages of professional masks that
medics desperately needed
this one it's made from an old t-shirt
it's got
three layers so should do a reasonable
job of stopping any virus that i might
release
which really matters because up to one
in three people may be infected
without even realizing and to make it
more effective there's the idea of
doubling up
having two coverings one on top of the
other because that gives you
more layers to stop the virus getting
through we saw a lot of these double
masks on inauguration day in washington
they're not recommended by the us
government or by the world health
organization
but they are catching on next up in
quality is the surgical mask
these are water resistant so if someone
coughs right at you
the virus should be blocked they should
provide you with some good protection
and others around you but they don't fit
very
well there are gaps at the sides that
tiny
virus particles called aerosols could
get through
you can see how that happens in these
lab tests they show how air
and aerosols can escape from around the
masks
so to guard against that there are
better grades of mask
they're called n95 in the us or ffp2
or ffp3 in the uk they've got filters
inside them
to screen out those aerosols in austria
they're now required on buses
and in other public areas while in
germany
elderly people have been given them for
going shopping
these have a much closer fit
no gaps which means you should be safer
but they are a lot more expensive while
homemade coverings are basically free
surgical masks cost about 10 pence each
while the ffb2
cost about three pounds on their own
masks are not going to defeat the
pandemic
no one is claiming that but research
shows they can make a difference
look how far a cough goes when there's
no face covering to stop it
so anything that helps is worth pursuing
but they've got to be worn
and removed really carefully and they're
bound to be with us
for some time to come
you