Before Omicron,
you know, wearing a mask of any kind, even a cloth
mask was better than nothing, and we thought
it was probably sufficient given the nice fall that we had.
But within Omicron
really, we're shifting over to at least surgical masks
as opposed to cloth masks, especially because a lot of times
a layperson , even if well-intended,
may not be able to know, like,
is this really a good mask for me to use?
And then
if you're in an enclosed area or somewhere where you can't get
social distancing or personal space,
for example, at a packed airport or inside of an airplane,
we really are recommending some form of N95 respirator ,
if you can get it.
So here's two examples of
N95 respirators.
What the 95 means is that these masks
are able to filter out 95% of microparticles
essentially.
A common question that
we get is, what's the difference between an N95 and a K and 95?
Really,
it's essentially the same mask, mask quality,
except that the N95 is the American standard and the KN95
is the Chinese standard.
Actually, the case stands for Korea.
Now, one important thing to note is that about 60% of KN95s
that are circulating in the US are counterfeit.
So it's really, really important if you order them
to check a couple of things. So how would I know?
So some of the things like
you can see here on this mask and on this one,
usually you have a brand name, you've got like,
this one happens to be NIOSH certified.
You've also got a serial number and a lot number.
And if you go on to the CDC's website or for example,
if you purchase a 3M
mask, you can enter that information
and make sure that it's an approved mask.
So that's really, really important.
But really, that's the only difference and these
come in different shapes.
You can find the duckbill
one that literally looks like a duckbill.
There's also the cup shaped ones that will open up.
Then there's the round ones, and then there's the KN95,
which is more of like a hexagonal type of shape.
So one thing I should say is that whenever you're
wearing an N95 mask,
if you're not working in a hospital,
just be advised that they do come in different sizes
and for a hospital setting and actual patient care,
we have to undergo something called fit testing,
which literally means, how best does this mask fit you?
So it requires specialized equipment
and a different type of testing method
so that you know. In other words, you wouldn't
just grab one of these and go into a patient room
without having the fit testing.
So they do come in different sizes,
typically small, regular and sometimes large.
So that is something to consider as well
just in terms of your own face shape
if you're looking for some of these.
So typically with most of these masks,
you'll have two loops, you'll have a head loop
and then you'll have another head loop just placed lower.
So when you have a mask like this, ideally what you do
is you kind of loosely let these dangle.
I'm right handed, so I'm going to put this into my right hand.
So you can go ahead, put it against your face,
take one strap,
put this one up high,
make sure it fits nicely on your crown, isn't moving forward,
isn't moving back.
And then you take this one and you also go over your head
and then you
go kind of towards the back.
I can tell you already
this mask is too large for my face
because I can feel the air coming out
and I feel like the strap is not very tight for me.
And I'm a small, I know that because I'm fit tested,
so I know this mask would be too big for me.
And then when you take it off,
same thing.
You just take off one strap, hold your mask so you don't lose it,
and then you take off the other one.
And then usually these are not reusable.
Now, there isn't as
much of a shortage of the actual N95s as there used to be.
However, again, for the regular consumer,
if you will, there's plenty of KN95s to be purchased,
as well as the BYD masks, which are very similar
and also a 95 mask.
So as long as you know you've got one
that's approved, that's coming from a legitimate company,
serial number, a lot number all of that,
that's perfectly fine .
There's no reason to have to get your hands
on a hospital grade N95, because that's really
the only difference is the fit testing.