What are the Best Mask Options for Protection Against New Variants?

[Jarvis323]

It seems that guidance to use cloth masks might be dated by now. While CDC still recommends leaving N95s for medical staff, there are a bunch of options by now for masks which are not necessarily medical grade yet offer much better protection than cloth masks or surgical masks. For example, there are KN95s (Chinese masks), and N94s (Korean masks) in large supply. I'm afraid cloth masks or surgical masks are not going to be effective enough with the highly infectious new variants. And things can change any moment with new variants emerging.

My preference is the Korean masks. I've bought several versions based on the recommendations and tests done by this youtuber.




I've tried the LG Airwasher and the BOTN masks, both of which seem to be high quality masks made by reputable companies. Compared to some other Korean models, they have an adjustable ear loop to tighten the fit. The LG and BOTN masks are basically the same as far as I can tell, but BOTN masks are available in more sizes, including adult small, medium, large, and kids size, and they also are marketed as "prevention of epidemic masks", and are KFDA approved and FDA registered. LG masks are marketed as non-medical masks.

For how good the filter efficiency is, they are quite breathable. I assume this is because it relies on an electrostatic filter layer?

There is still concern that these style masks might not form a good enough seal around the face to provide the full > 94% filter efficiency in practice if the fit is not good (the adjustable ear loop and multiple sizes might help with this though), but it's definitely better than cloth.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32845196/

 

[rsk]

I had been wearing 3 layer cotton masks for most of the pandemic, or a cotton mask with a surgical one over it.
Last spring I tried for the first time an FFP2 and for the first time, my sunglasses misted up.

For now I'm sticking to my cotton+surgical combination, but have a few FFP2s here in case of situations where they are obligatory.

 

[jasonRF]

I have jaw issues and most masks literally become painful after 30 minutes or so. Cotton masks that tie behind my head are by far the most comfortable for me to wear all-day; I use my glasses to pinch the fabric and create a reasonable 'seal' around my nose, although the nose seal is still probably the weakest aspect. When I feel like I need something more, I use a disposal mask underneath it with the metal part bent around my nose - held on by the ear-loops when tolerable but sometimes just held on by the cotton mask on top. I have been getting tested at work twice a week for many months and have not had a positive test yet, so coupled with the standard hand-washing, avoiding crowds and being good about social distancing it has seemed to work so far.

The only times I have used an N95 (left-over from when I insulated my attic years ago) was when I had to fly for a family emergency pre-vaccine. My jaw hurt for a couple of days after but it was much better than covid!

jason