N95 face masks provide the best Omicron protection

Cloth masks aren’t the best, medical masks are better and N95 or KN95 are what more and more experts are recommending as the best option while Omicron continues to circulate.

A cloth mask will block about 70 per cent of what you are breathing out, Brauer says, while a medical mask will offer a little more protection. But, assuming it’s well-sealed, an N95 can block out up to 95 per cent of potential virus transmission.Although he says an N95 is slightly better than a KN95, the latter is much easier to get, slightly more comfortable to wear and still a good option.

“With beards, or even if you are not clean-shaven, you are decreasing that seal. It’s really important to get a good seal with a beard,” he says.“Put your mask on and blow out as hard as you can. If you blink, that is air coming up through the top of the mask,” Brauer says. “If you don’t blink you have a good seal.”

And while those pretty cloth, homemade creations might have served you well as previous COVID-19 variants circulated, and the medical mask protects you even more, right now your best bet is to upgrade. And the triple-layer masks some people wear work well to block out what you are exhaling, potentially into other people’s breathing space, but are not protecting you, he says.

Outdoors is the safer place to gather with others because the fresh air dilutes any virus and, of course, a strong wind will blow it away.

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