BOSTON — Remember when the pandemic first began and people were using whatever they could find as a mask? We’ve learned a little bit more since then about what works best.
“I typically use the surgical mask,” said Kevin Mastro of Cambridge.
We’ve seen more communities at least consider indoor mask mandates, but some doctors say if we want to see change, not just any mask will do. Doctors say surgical masks are much more effective than the cloth masks that you’ll see often especially with the ladies.
“I have enough masks to actually match my outfits,” said Kisha Sivanathan of Boston. “I was wearing these medical-grade masks especially on the train because I believe it has the best protection but I have been vaccinated and since then I still wear a mask but I wear a cloth mask.”
With the rise in Delta variant cases, more doctors are calling for even better masks like the N95, which weren’t available a year and a half ago, but now are. Several doctors are even asking for schools to consider higher-quality masks and for every American household to get high-filtration masks mailed monthly.
“There’s no reason at this point why we don’t have an adequate supply of high filtration masks,” said Dr. Abraar Karan of Stanford University and formerly Brigham & Women’s Hospital. “We know these masks just work so much better than just cloth masks. They filter better. They’re all better source control if you’re infectious. So I do think that not just for COVID, but even for the next respiratory pathogen or the next variant that we deal with.”
But many say wearing something is still better than nothing.
“First we want everybody to mask and if any mask provide some level of protection I think that’s a good start,” Mastro said.
Karan says it’s both fit and then the material of the mask that matters. Higher filtration masks are better than cloth, but either way they need to have fitters that can keep the mask snug to your face.
He says the recommendations don’t make a difference if you are vaccinated or unvaccinated. He says the N95 masks are especially needed if you’re unvaccinated or otherwise vulnerable to severe disease, but even the vaccinated can have high viral loads and masks will still be important, especially indoors.
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