Canadians are being urged to ditch sure kinds of masks in favour of ones specialists say will present extra safety towards the brand new, quickly spreading Omicron variant.
The top of Ontario’s Science Advisory Desk, Dr. Peter Juni, mentioned Friday that single-layer material face masks might not be sufficient to guard towards Omicron.
“The problem right here is you probably have a single-layer, the power to filtrate is totally minimal and doesn’t make a distinction in anyway,” mentioned Juni, who pointed to using KN95 respirators as a simpler choice.
The renewed dialogue about masks use comes as Canada’s Omicron-driven fifth wave continues to drive each day case counts to file numbers not seen in months, pushing provinces to enact a slew of public well being measures and restrictions.
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Single-layer material masks not efficient towards Omicron, says Ontario science advisory desk director
Juni’s advice to ditch single-layer material face masks comes amid a name by some public well being specialists to re-examine masking tips, and extra actively encourage using respirators and medical masks over material ones.
Colin Furness, an epidemiologist on the College of Toronto, mentioned public well being authorities have to extra strongly encourage using KN95 respirators in indoor public settings.
Furness advised the Canadian Press any marketing campaign to push for his or her use ought to embody assets to assist Canadians discover respirators that match finest.
“That’s public training we desperately want,” mentioned Furness. “The truth that individuals are on their very own for this can be a travesty.”
In November, the Public Well being Company of Canada (PHAC) up to date its tips on masks use, suggesting respirators such because the KN95 are simpler than non-medical masks.
“Basically, whereas non-medical masks can assist stop the unfold of COVID-19, medical masks and respirators present higher safety,” mentioned PHAC on their masks data webpage.
The company additionally really useful using medical masks or respirators for these in susceptible at-risk teams, or who run the next threat of contracting COVID-19 inside their work or dwelling state of affairs.
In a press convention Friday, Canada’s Chief Public Well being Officer Dr. Theresa Tam additionally burdened Canadians to observe PHAC’s up to date steerage on indoor air flow and “correct use, development and match of face masks.”
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Whereas respirators appear to be the consensus amongst public well being specialists and officers because the gold commonplace for defense towards Omicron, they’re fast to level out the added safety provided by respirators may be very a lot depending on the masks being correctly fitted to an individual’s face.
It’s a element that Dr. Gerald Evans, chair of infectious illnesses at Queen’s College, was fast to level out.
“The quantity of additional safety you get from an N95 respirator … if it’s not fit-tested, is just marginally higher than a medical masks,” mentioned Evans.
Whereas there may be an upside to the safety provided by respirators if they’re correctly fitted, Evans additionally identified the excessive price to usually purchase them, in addition to an absence of definitive proof that N95s stop transmission in neighborhood settings, extra so than extra cheaply produced medical masks.
“So there’s no research that reveals sporting an N95 statistically or clinically reduces the transmission of COVID 19 — greater than a medical masks,” mentioned Evans. “Actually, now we have fairly good proof, medical masks clearly work by lowering the general infectious dose.”
In differing steerage in the direction of what seems to be to be basic public use of masks, PHAC mentioned a “respirator worn locally doesn’t have to have been formally fit-tested as is required in some occupational settings.”
Evans additionally mentioned the elevated transmission of Omicron is just not as a result of it’s “extra airborne” — a virus’ trait from which a respirator might additional shield customers. Fairly, he mentioned, folks with the variant start shedding larger a great deal of the virus, as a result of it replicating quickly within the cells it infects.
The underside line from Evans although is: “In case you have some huge cash and you may afford an N95 masks or a kind of equivalents, go forward and purchase them.”
“However if you happen to can, get a medical masks — they’re not very costly … and if you happen to can’t afford that, however you’ve bought some good material masks, use them, don’t overlook to wash them and possibly take into consideration double-masking if you happen to suppose that’s acceptable.”
— With recordsdata from The Canadian Press
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