New York returns to mandate for indoor masks 3:46
(CNN) -
If you continue to wear a cloth or surgical mask when you go out, it's time to rethink your face protection.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is updating its mask recommendations this week to better reflect the options available and the different levels of protection they offer, it stated. this Tuesday a CDC official told CNN.
Many experts claim that cloth and surgical masks do not provide enough protection, recommending N95 or FFP2 masks instead.
Why you should change your mask as the omicron variant spreads
Improved masks are already the norm in much of Europe.
Germany requires the use of FFP2 masks in shops, on public transport and in other public places.
Neighboring Austria made FFP2 masks mandatory outside on Tuesday, when it is not possible to stay a minimum of six feet from outsiders, and have been required indoors since last month.
Italy imposed high resistance masks to enter stadiums, museums, cinemas and theaters, and use public transport since December.
And in Greece, anyone who has come out of a period of isolation must wear a mask in any public place for five days.
The different terminologies for the use of masks can be confusing, but all terms refer to the level of filtration they offer and there is no doubt that the FFP2, N95 or KN95 models offer better protection than the cloth or other fabrics.
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Cloth masks, which were suggested early in the pandemic, can stop large droplets, while more effective masks can also filter potentially virus-laden aerosols or smaller particles out of the air.
Properly fitted N95 masks approved by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health can filter up to 95% of airborne particulates, according to the CDC.
FFP2 or N95 masks are already mandatory in some parts of Europe.
In contrast, a cloth mask also has 75% inward and outward leakage, which the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists defines as the "percentage of particles entering the mask" and the "percentage of particles exhaled by a mask. source coming out of the mask ", respectively.
People concerned about the best way to protect themselves and their loved ones during this wave of cases of the omicron variant should "get the highest quality mask that you can tolerate and that is available to you," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to CNN's Anderson Cooper, noting a change in official advice.
"What the CDC has said, and has been misunderstood, is that wearing any mask is better than no mask," Fauci said.
"But there is a gradation of ability to prevent you from getting infected and passing it on to someone else. So we should use the best possible masks we can get. That's a fact."
- CNN's Nina Avramova contributed to this report.
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