Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, P2 or N95 masks have been held up as the best protection against contaminants in the air, but their effectiveness can be severely reduced because one size does not fit all.
A national survey of doctors has revealed fit testing of masks is not happening across many Australian health workplaces.
Emergency department locum Dr Mian Bi surveyed more than 1,000 doctors working across Australia and New Zealand in hospitals, GP clinics and aged care and found only one in five were getting their masks properly fit-tested before they used it.
“When you are at the coalface, you want the best protection and know that you are safe,” he said.
Wearing a mask used to be something Australians saw on television or holidays abroad, but now it could save your life or someone else’s.
So, it’s important to get it right and it turns out some of the advice we’ve been given could give us a dangerously false sense of security, especially if you don’t know you’re sick.
So, the question here is which mask will best protect you and which will protect the community from unknowing carriers of COVID-19?
Victoria reported five deaths from the coronavirus cases and logged the third-highest daily rise in coronavirus cases.
Victoria recorded 403 new cases overnight, Premier Daniel Andrews told a media briefing in Melbourne, a day after posting its biggest one-day spike of 484 cases.
Kiyoshi Kurokawa, a prominent Japanese government adviser, said Tokyo Olympics may have to be postponed again if the novel coronavirus mutates into a stronger pathogen.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told Reuters the Olympics, originally scheduled to start this month but put off to 2021 because of the pandemic, must go ahead next year as a symbol of world unity in overcoming coronavirus.
Note, just looking at it, checking the packaging, etc, even checking FDA listing, may seem like a good start. In reality, will not guarantee anything for you.
There is flood of counterfeit product on the market and even the regulatory authorities find it hard to distinguish the real from the fake, just by looking at it.
There are unscrupulous factories churning out counterfeit N95 masks, NIOSH N95 masks and other masks, often at higher prices than the genuine articles!
…typically they first buy batches of legitimate product from a certified factory, then copy everything they need…however typically cut a few corners, especially on some of the internal materials, essential to a safe mask, but unseen unless you destroy the mask & / or test it.
To be fair, many government authorities are on the lookout for counterfeits, both in country of origin, and import customs.
Also, many local authorities are conducting random testing of products in their local markets, which is also good.
Here is the scary thing.
Even the experts, at places such as CDC, NIOSH and test labs, cannot tell a real NIOSH N95 mask from a fake NIOSH N95 mask, let alone the other masks, such as a regular N95 mask, CE certified FFP2 NR Mask or KN95 Mask…
…just by looking at them!
The only way to be sure, is to test a NIOSH N95, N95 mask, FFP2 NR Mask, or KN95 Mask in a lab, which is what authorities do.
To achieve and certification, factories need to make a compliant products, then prove it in a test lab.
There is follow-up to ensure ongoing compliance.
…so how can it be that there is the product in the market that is not compliant?
In most cases, it is a counterfeit or fake product.
….and obviously anyone going to the trouble to make counterfeit masks, can copy the packaging documents etc and a significant amount will “get through”.
The key is that your retailer or wholesaler, is buying from reputable partners, and they are buying “factory direct”.
For large retailers and wholesalers looking for products, First-res, ships bulk quantities factory direct.
All of our factories have been making COVID PPE, since before COVID!
Some have been NIOSH certified for more than six years.
If you are buying from a reputable reseller that you know, check they (or their importer) are shipping NIOSH N95 masks, N95 masks, CE certified FFP2 NR Masks, KN95 Masks factory direct.
Scott Morrison has announced that Australia will reduce the rate of international arrivals by more than half – with at least 4,000 fewer Australians returning home each week – and states will charge people for compulsory two-week hotel quarantine.
The national cabinet met to consider the worsening second-wave outbreak, which has seen the reimposition of stage-three lockdowns in Melbourne and isolated Victoria with border bans imposed by every state and territory.
Football Federation Australia (FFA) said, three A-League clubs who were unable to leave Melbourne before the city went into lockdown due to Coronavirus have been given exemptions to travel to a hub in New South Wales ahead of the competition’s restart.
The FFA said the teams would travel to NSW as soon as possible to an “agreed facility” where they would quarantine for 14 days. With the season resuming on July 16, the Melbourne teams’ matches will have to be postponed.
The Federal Government is considering bringing forward planned income tax cuts forward as part of Coronavirus economic response..
Mr Frydenberg said further income support would be made available after the September deadline for JobKeeper and JobSeeker. Major banks had agreed to extend the period under which loans could be deferred by people facing financial hardship due to COVID-19.
Greater Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will go into lockdown for six weeks, to deal with a surge in coronavirus cases in the state.
With the recent spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, people are looking to face masks as a way of protecting themselves and others from the virus, which causes the disease COVID-19.
But does wearing a face mask prevents the spread of coronaviruses?
Yes, wearing a face mask can help reduce the spread of the coronavirus by people who have COVID-19 but don’t realize it.
On 5 June 2020, WHO published updated guidance on the use of face masks for control of COVID-19. This guidance is based on evolving evidence and provides updated advice on who should wear a mask when it should be worn and what it should be made of.
World Health Organization updates guidelines on Masks.
Notably in areas with widespread infection:
All people working in clinical areas should wear medical masks
People over 60 years of age or with underlying conditions should wear a medical mask
Governments should encourage the general public to wear masks where physical distancing is difficult, such as on public transport.
First-Res has FDA, CE and PMDA certified masks available to ship, factory direct. (3 ply, 5 play, medical masks, surgical masks, N95, KN95, FFP2 NR, etc)
Except from todays WHO announcement, here is what’s new:
In areas with the widespread transmission, WHO advises medical masks for all people working in clinical areas of a health facility, not only workers dealing with patients with COVID-19.
That means, for example, that when a doctor is doing a ward round on the cardiology or palliative care units where there are no confirmed COVID-19 patients, they should still wear a medical mask.
Second, in areas with community transmission, we advise that people aged 60 years or over, or those with underlying conditions, should wear a medical mask in situations where physical distancing is not possible.
Third, WHO has also updated its guidance on the use of masks by the general public in areas with community transmission.
In light of evolving evidence, WHO advises that governments should encourage the general public to wear masks where there is widespread transmission and physical distancing is difficult, such as on public transport, in shops or in other confined or crowded environments.
Our updated guidance contains new information on the composition of fabric masks, based on academic research requested by WHO. Based on this new research, WHO advises that fabric masks should consist of at least three layers of a different material. Details of which materials we recommend for each layer are in the guidelines.
