Thread by @drgregkelly

The 5 Fs of getting effective masks on the faces of your loved ones for #COVID19 protection in the real world

1 - Filtration
2 - Fit
3 - Feel
4 - Fashion
5 - Finances

1, Filtration

Refers to the % of potential covid containing particles (i.e aerosols) the mask material filters out. Cloth & surgical masks are unrated, untested & unpredictable but let’s be generous & say they filter 50%

But…because cloth and surgical masks are not designed or tested to filter reliably these numbers are highly variable - a well fitted surgical mask might be 80%, a poorly fitted cloth one 10%. There’s no real way to know

By contrast, N95, P2 & FFP2 are industrial products w long history of use that are designed, tested & certified to filter out a minimum of 95% covid containing particles even after a certain amount of time & use. <1/10 amount of virus

i.e they do EXACTLY what they say on the box

KF94 is Korean equivalent (us. well regulated) & KN95 is Chinese (unregulated but of course many good ones) + companies might also test to a standard and provide results but not be certifiable

nymag.com/strategist/art…

There’s an obvious opportunity to align certifications and make them understandable by people in the real world, even I have to look them up each time to avoid a typo

2, Fit

Even perfect filtration is ineffective if you have big leaks around your nose, cheeks & chin. I see tons of people wearing KN masks especially (good filtration) w big leaks around nose. We also know that many masks designed & tested by white men so fit others less well :(

Nose wire & cheek wings help masks fit. Do a visual fit check to see if there are obvious gaps and improve fit by bending nose wire around nose & tightening ear loops.

Everyone differs and you have to find something which fits you

Fit is an area where true N95s (which must have head bands) are likely to outperform ear loop masks (which other standards permit)

Note that any facial hair that sits under mask/face border is likely to be really harming fit

NB I’m not arguing for goatees to return en masse!

3, Feel

MASKS ONLY WORK IF THEY’RE OVER YOUR AIR HOLES (i.e mouth & nose, sorry chin wearers). But some are more comfortable than others, esp for long periods. Ear loops (esp if knotted) hurt my ears after a few hours & I’ve found some N95 head bands too tight. Comfort counts!

4, Fashion

Something we haven’t paid enough attention to & a HUGE opportunity for manufacturers. People care about how they look, even during a pandemic. I’ve got dozens of friends & family to wear Masklab KF masks because they look great, fit well & have huge choice (no COI)

Are here better masks they could wear? Yep, but these are the best masks that they WILL wear, for now, and are solid on filtration, fit, few and fashion so THEY GET WORN

5, Finances

We have thrown the poor (along w disabled, medically vulnerable, elders & kids under 5) under the bus (who’s even driving this thing now???) this pandemic in myriad ways. Avoiding covid takes privilege & is expensive. I’m really sorry this is the situation we’re in.

Having said that, masks are one of the cheapest personal measures you can take to avoid covid. You can get a good mask for $1-2, or places give them away. Most packets say “single use only” but that is for heavy industrial use. For daily covid-avoiding use they can last weeks

If you’re a privileged person, use it to help others get better masks. Buy an extra box or 20 & pass them on.

Shoutout to @VictorianCHO and Vic gov for recently announcing they are going to give away millions of better masks to the Victorian public

What do I actually do in my life?

I organise group buys of Masklab masks because my friends & family love them & actually wear them.

I have N95s which I can sometimes force on them for more high risk situations. Now I’ve found black N95s (by BNX) this will be easier

Obviously I haven’t even touched on N99s, elastomerics or PAPRs this thread, because focussing on what I can influence in my circles

Ps if Masklab wants to make a true N95 or someone else wants to make N95s that are that pretty I know some people who will buy 1000s

Just saying