Omicron is once again making people think twice before reaching out for their colorful, reusable cloth face masks.
"They can be really good or really terrible," depending on what fabric is used, said Trish GREENHALGH, professor of primary health care services at the University of Oxford.
Double or triple-layer masks made of a mix of materials can be more effective, but most cloth coverings are just "fashion accessories," according to GREENHALGH.
As the highly infectious omicron causes Covid infections to surge worldwide, governments around the world are tightening restrictions to try and stop its spread. Earlier this month, Britain reintroduced compulsory mask wearing on public transport, shops and in some indoor venues, having previously relaxed the rules in the summer. Throughout the pandemic, authorities in different places have said different things about when and where healthy people should wear face masks and what type of coverings they should choose.
The main issue with a cloth covering is they don't have to meet any kind of health standard, says GREENHALGH. In contrast, those manufacturing N95 respirator masks, for example, have to make sure they filter out 95% of particles.
Still, good filtration is useless if the mask doesn't cover your nose and mouth properly. You also need to be able to breathe easily through the mask, GREENHALGH said. Environmentally or money-worried consumers used to reach out for cloth masks because they could be washed, but there are reusable coverings that meet filtration standards available now.
Canadians are already being advised to ditch single-layer-cloths masks in favor of tighter, fitted ones.
"The issue here is if you have a single-layer, the ability to filtrate is absolutely minimal and doesn't make a difference whatsoever," said PETER JUNI, head of Ontario's Science Advisory Table, in an interview with CTV news last week.
Speaking on Monday, CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen said that cloth face masks have “no place” in the fight against the Omicron variant of Covid-19, likening to them “facial decorations.”
“Don’t wear a cloth mask,” she said.
The advice isn’t new: experts have been shifting away from cloth masks since January at least, but the messaging hasn’t been remotely clear: the early days of the pandemic saw experts saying not to wear masks at all, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) still advises that anyone who isn’t a first responder shouldn’t wear an N95 mask at all while other prominent experts say that they’re the best option while CBS and NPR have both reported that millions of N95 masks have been manufactured and approved for use but are simply sitting in storage.
Dr. Wen also opined that “we should be keeping events that are safe, and have fun for people too. We can’t be cancelling everything, especially if we’re going to be living with Covid for the foreseeable future.”
She also said that if you’d like to see people who might be at particularly high risk for infection and complication, that you purchase an at-home test and make sure you’re uninfected before spending time with them.
Getting vaccinated – and then getting the booster – is still the most effective way to prevent yourself from contracting and spreading all forms of the Covid-19 virus, including the new and somewhat mysterious Omicron variant, but masks are an essential part of staying safe while enjoying the holidays (which is something you should absolutely do for the sake of your own mental health – which is closely linked to, and just as important as, your physical health).
In short, a summary of the expert advice seems to be this: Get your vaccine, get your booster, wear an N95 or a KN95 or a 3-ply surgical mask, and have as wonderful a holiday as you can.
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