Dr Sandhya Ramanathan: The mask that offers the best protection against Covid-19
is an N95 or P2 mask.
The second best mask is a surgical mask.
Today, I'm going to be showing you how to fit an N95/P2 mask and I'm going to also be showing you
how to fit a surgical mask, as well as three tricks to improve the fit of a surgical mask.
In order to fit an N95 mask, you need to take it,
put it in the palm of your hand and remove the straps so that they're on the outside of the mask.
Then, hold the mask up to your face so the fine bit goes over your nose,
take the top strap and put it over the crown of your head.
Take the bottom strap and put it all the way over your head, behind your neck.
Make sure that the straps don't criss cross.
Then you need to mould the nose piece so that it has a nice fit around your face.
Once the mask is on securely, you need to do a fit check. So you need to blow in and out,
and check for any air leaks.
If you wear glasses, you can put your glasses overtop after this,
making sure that you don't create a gap between the glasses and the mask.
In order to remove the mask, it's very important that your hands are clean first,
then do not touch the outside of the mask, remove the mask by taking off th ebottom strap first
and then the top strap and then disposing the mask in a paper bag ready for reuse the following week
When you're putting on a surgical mask, make sure your hands are clean first.
Take a surgical mask, make sure that the coloured side,
or the blue side is facing outwards, as that's the water proof layer
Make sure that the wire side is at the top, which is the side that moulds to your nose, and then
place it over your face, fan out the pleats to cover your chin and put the hooks over your ears.
The good news is a surgical mask provides very good protection, the main difference between a
P2/N95 mask and a surgical mask is actually the fit of the mask as opposed to the filtration.
So I'm gonna show you through very easy hacks
whereby you can improve the fit of your surgical mask.
First of all, I'm gonna show you a simple knot and tuck hack that will help
improve the fit of this mask for smaller faces.
So you take your mask and fold it in half, like so. Then with the ear loops you place a knot
at the base of the ear loops close to the mask, like so.
Then, you take the mask and you tuck in the edges, like so.
Take the mask and place it over your face,
moulding it onto your nose and pulling it under your chin and pull the earloops over your ears.
Where you've made the folds, smooth the folds
so that it provides a good seal where normally there would be a gap.
The second mask hack I'm gonna show you is tightening the fit of the mask
by using a three rubber band brace.
So you take your mask and put it on, then take your rubber band brace, stretch the
middle band over your nose and your chin, and take the loops and place them over each ear.
Making sure that the knots of the rubber band are over the top of the surgical mask.
Then mould the mask down and make sure
that the rubber bands are sitting comfortably around your face.
As you can see, the mask is moving in and out with my breathing and providing a much
tighter seal and better fit.
The third mask hack I'm going to show you is improving the fit of your mask
by double masking, or placing a cloth mask over the top of your surgical mask,
which improves the fit and gets rid of leaks from the side and the top of the mask.
So take your surgical mask and put it on. Then taking a good cloth mask that has a nose wire
and covers your chin, pull it over the top of your [surgical] mask like so.
The most important thing to consider when selecting a mask is the fit of the mask,
the filtration of the mask and the comfort level of the mask.
And remember a mask is better than no mask.