Health experts are calling for people to comply with COVID-related measures to protect themselves against the virus worldwide as the new variant Omicron continues to spread, but some experts are recommending improved face masks in addition to vaccinations and boosters.
Dr. Abraar Karan, an infectious disease fellow at Stanford University, said that with little known about the new variant, people should improve the quality of their face masks and coverings.
“We won’t know key details about Omicron such as transmissibility & virulence for a few weeks,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. A few weeks is too long to take a chance, especially with higher risk people. If you can upgrade your mask for indoor/crowded settings, please do that now.”
We won’t know key details about #Omicron such as transmissibility & virulence for a few weeks
A few weeks is too long to take a chance, especially with higher risk people
If you can upgrade your mask for indoor/crowded settings, please do that now#covid19
— Abraar Karan (@AbraarKaran) November 30, 2021
The new Omicron variant prompted many countries to impose temporary travel restrictions after it was detected in South Africa last week. Nations including the U.S., U.K, Japan, Israel, France and Italy banned travel from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini.
A study that looked into community masking in Bangladesh found that face masks made of cloth are less effective than surgical masks. The filtration efficiency of cloth masks was 37 percent compared to a surgical mask, which was 95 percent. Additionally, surgical masks were proven to be more efficient than cloth masks after 10 washes.
On Tuesday, Dr. Karan recommended switching to the N95 or a surgical-grade mask with a mask brace for better face coverings. According to Armbrust American, the N95 has a 99.95 percent Particle Filtration Efficiency (PFE).
The KF94 and KN95 are also protective but they are less effective than the N95, according to Aaron Collins, a mechanical engineer who tested various masks’ effectiveness.
Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
“There are a lot of things about COVID-19 we can’t control, like poor ventilation in buildings or whether other people are vaccinated, but aside from ensuring you and your family get vaccinated, wearing a high-quality mask is the single most important thing people can do to protect themselves and their kids,” Collins told The New York Times on Tuesday.
President Joe Biden is expected to announce a winter plan to combat COVID amid the rise of the Omicron variant.
Top public health expert Leana Wen said on Thursday that the best protection against Omicron includes vaccination, boosters, testing, and masking in public indoors.
“The finding of an omicron infection in a Minnesota resident who had no international travel means that there is spread in the United States,” she wrote on Twitter. “There will be many more cases to come.”
The first Omicron case identified in the U.S. was discovered after a fully-vaccinated traveler returned to California after a trip to South Africa.
The second reported Omicron case was identified on Thursday in a Minnesota resident who was returning from New York City after attending a convention, according to New York and Minnesota officials.
In South Africa, the number of new COVID cases has doubled in a single day as it increased from 4,373 on Tuesday to 8,561 on Wednesday, raising concerns that Omicron could be the most infectious variant so far.
Newsweek contacted infectious disease experts who could weigh in on mask recommendations for comment.
