現在のところ, there are three main types of masks people wear daily: disposable, surgical and medical protective masks (i.e. N95 masks).
So, what is the difference between them?
According to CCTV, the statement that “ordinary surgical masks cannot prevent Omicron infection” has attracted widespread attention in the past two days.
How to wear masks scientifically has become an issue of concern. In this regard, China’s National Health Commission organized relevant experts to respond:
Most of the current cases are in a low-risk infection state, which means that we can scientifically choose disposable or medical surgical masks.
Again , what is the difference between medical surgical masks and disposable medical masks?
On the one hand, medical surgical masks are splash-proof. Secondly, this mask type also has certain anti-aerosol functions, and it’s protective effect against aerosols can reach 30%.
The third type of mask is medical protective masks (N95 masks), which are mainly worn in environments exposed to high infection risk, such as fever clinics in medical institutions and new crown designated hospitals .When the concentration of pathogens is relatively high, medical protective masks should be selected.
Medical protective masks (N95 masks) are better than surgical and medical masks in aerosol prevention and control, but there are also disadvantages ; after wearing it for a long time, people may feel hypoxia, long-term lack of oxygen is easy to produce fatigue, and will also have a certain impact on the heart and brain, that is, it should be use by medical professionals.
There are also some precautions for the use of medical protective masks (N95 masks), such as one-time use, the effective time is 4-6 hours, so public don’t need to wear medical protective masks in general low-risk environments.
