As some US states and cities potentially face new mask mandates in response to the surging coronavirus Delta variant, a health expert says cloth sheet masks and bandanas do not offer enough protection from the highly contagious new strain.
Most masks are deemed ineffective against the Delta variant in the eyes of Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and director of the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
When one dons a cloth mask, microscopic aerosols break through the material when people snuff or inhale, Osterholm said on CNN on Monday.
‘You know I wish we could get rid of the term masking because, in fact, it implies that anything you put in front of your face works, and if I could just add a nuance to that which hopefully doesn’t add more confusion is we know today that many of the face cloth coverings that people wear are not very effective in reducing any of the virus movement in or out,’ Osterholm said.
The flaws of a cloth mask are evident during a wildfire, he said. People are still able to smell smoke from flames coming from the raging fires in the country’s northwest.
‘Either you’re breathing out or you’re breathing in and in fact if you’re in the upper Midwest right now anybody who’s wearing their face cloth covering can tell you they can smell all the smoke that we’re still getting,’ Osterholm said.
While most masks are ineffective in combating the Delta variant, the KN95 or N95 masks are the supreme protective face coverings, Osterholm said.
On July 25, former Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb uttered a similar argument, saying that the right quality mask was necessary to protect against a strain as contagious as the Delta variant.
‘It’s not more airborne, and it’s not more likely to be permeable to a mask. So a mask can still be helpful,’ Gottlieb said on CBS’s Face the Nation. ‘I think, though, if you’re going to consider wearing a mask, the quality of the mask does matter. So if you can get your hands on a KN95 mask or an N95 mask, that’s going to afford you a lot more protection.’
However, some doctors like Jill Foster, a University of Minnesota infectious disease physician and M Health Fairview employee, believe cloth can prevent the transmission of the Delta variant.
‘Delta is… once it gets in, it causes much more severe disease,’ she said. ‘But it’s not like it’s a virus that when it’s on the outside of your body, it’s extra good at getting through the mask.’
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