- The CDC last week made a major change to its guidelines for face masks, advising people to avoid respirators that have exhalation valves or vents.
- ‘Masks with unidirectional valves or vents can be exhaled through holes in the material,’ read the updated guidelines.
- The change comes days after the Indian government instructed its people not to wear N95 respirators with valves.
- Needless to say, you can cover the flap on your mask and still be perfectly safe when you wear them.
Instead of being a simple tool that anyone can use to keep themselves and their loved ones safe during the pandemic, the face mask became the most divisive item of the year. In some western countries, people misrepresent advice and mandates to wear face masks while in public for a tool that the local government has devised to control the masses. Other people claim that face masks reduce oxygenation, which is unbelievably wrong, as we eventually proved. Then there are people who think that COVID-19 does not really exist or that the virus can not infect them. As a result, people who use face mask are one of the first groups of people to infect themselves and their loved ones. And we keep hearing from coronavirus deniers who have learned what the virus can do to their bodies after ignoring safety precautions, including mask-wearing.
We have already seen many studies proving that face masks are effective in slowing the spread of COVID-19. And studies have shown what kind of homemade masks can offer the best protection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidelines for face masks in early April, but the agency has now quietly updated its guidelines to warn people not to use masks that have valves. The new recommendation imitates a similar decision by Indian authorities a few weeks ago that instructed citizens to avoid N95 respirators with valves.
The CDC revised its guidelines on August 6, as it was tracked by Spectrum news. The agency added a section entitled “Masks with Exhalation Valves or Vents” to the page, which provides the following section:
The purpose of masks is to keep respiratory drops from reaching others to help with source control. Masks with one-way valves or valves can expel exhaled air through holes in the material. This allows exhaled respiratory droplets to reach others and potentially spread the COVID-19 virus. Therefore, CDC advises not to use masks or if they have an exhalation valve as a valve.
Studies earlier this year showed that people can emit particles of different sizes into the air when they talk, sing, cough and sneeze. Saliva droplets are larger, and they are usually forcefully expelled during a snow like a cough, driven to various distances and then falling on surfaces and people. Then there are the microdroplets which are much smaller in size, and these are exposed to regular speech. The water in them evaporates before they can land, and they are converted into aerosols that can float in the air longer and travel farther than ordinary droplets.
Face masks can help stop both types of drops, but the CDC and the Indian government are now both warning against covers that have air vents on them. Here is what a letter from the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) in the Indian Ministry of Health said a few weeks ago about the matter:
Please note that the use of valve respirator N-95 masks is detrimental to the measures taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus, as it does not prevent the virus from entering the mask. escaped. In view of the above, I ask you to instruct all relevant instructions to follow the use of face / mouth cover and to avoid undue use of N-95 masks.
At the moment we are speculating that the Indian government might be looking to keep the supply of N95 for medical workers because the same letter advised people to make their own face with masks with more layers. India has the third largest COVID-19 caseload as of Monday morning more than 2.2 million cases.
The CDC face mask page had included a recommendation against surgical masks as respirators since before the agency updated last week, claiming that medical equipment is a critical supply for healthcare workers:
The masks recommended here are not surgical masks or respirators. Currently, these are critical supplies that need to be reserved for health care workers and other first responders. Masks are not personal protective equipment (PPE). They are not suitable substitutes for PPE such as respirators (such as N95 respirators) or medical face masks (such as surgical masks) in workplaces where respirators or face masks are recommended as required to protect the wearer.
The CDC guidelines also recommend other measures to be used in conjunction with face masks, including “including social distancing, frequent hand washing, and cleaning and disinfection of frequently touched surfaces.” But the CDC has omitted one important point from the revised guidelines: wearing a face mask with a flap is perfectly safe for those around you when you cover the flap with cloth. You can also take the vent on the interior as well as the outside to make sure nothing will escape.
Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it, he shared his views on tech things with readers all over the world. Every time he does not write about gadgets, he manages to stay away from it, even though he tries desperately. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
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