Omicron Variant: Know which type of mask can guard you and your family from this virus

The number of covid cases are increasing all over the world andas well as in India. Omicron is one of the fastest spreading variant among theothers. Its first case was detectedin South Africa and within a month it almost covered every part of the world.

As the covid spike is again on its peak, the health systemsof the countries started to feel pressure as they are reporting more casesthan their holding capacities. So in this covid period, what we can do to makeourselves secure in our daily work.

First of all we must get our vaccination done as soon as possible.The governments are requesting their citizens to get vaccinated at theirearliest. Second is wearing masks and using sanitizer. But the question ariseshere is, what type of mask should we use?

People are using homemade cloth mask, but are they capableenough to protect you from get affected from omicron?

So the answer is NO.      

During the covid period we have seen many types of mask suchas homemade cotton mask, surgical mask, N95 masks and many more experimented ideasbut no this is not the time to experiment with ourselves.

According to experts using cotton mask may not provide you enoughprotection against the infection. It can only save you around 20 minutes if theinfected person is not wearing a mask. Cloth masks can only hold big dropletsbut the small particles can be transmitted even after wearing a cloth mask.

Surgical masks are better than cloth masks but they are alsonot that much effective if the virus is highly transmissible. It takes around30 minutes if the infected person is not wearing the mask and the second persona surgical mask, to spread the infection.

Also read: Vaccines effective against severe disease, hospitalisation caused by Omicron: EMA

Till now N95 masks are best that provides maximum protectionagainst the spread of infection. According to the studies, if the infected personis not wearing a mask and the second person is wearing a N95 mask it will takearound more than 2 hours to transmit the infection. If both wear masks it willtake around 25 hours to transmit infection.

So it is clear that wearing mask is important as well aswearing correct mask is equally important. We must ensure our safety to protectourselves against this deadly disease.