COVID VARIANTS REAR THEIR UGLY HEADS
are authorized for use by the FDA
only after the agency confirms they
meet conditions for safety and
effectiveness.
You can see the full list of
approved tests on the FDA
website. www.fda.gov. If your test
isn’t on this list, it’s technically not
authorized for use in the United
States and may not deliver accurate
results.
MASKS
Dec.21, 2021, CNN: Dr. Leana
Wen, a professor at George
Washington University, “Health
Experts Recommend Retiring
Cloth Masks.” Ideally, you should
be wearing a KN95 or N95 mask.”
Cloth masks with several lay-ers
can filter and block large drop-lets.
KN95 and N95 can filter both
large droplets and smaller aerosols
and particles.
Jan. 14, 2022, CNN: You’re ready
to swap your old cloth masks for
N95s as some experts recommend,
but the higher price tag and two
little words -- “single use” -- are
giving you pause. How long can
you really wear an N95 and still
protect yourself and others from
Covid-19 risk?
The reason why N95 masks are
designated as single use is because
they’re categorized as medical
masks. In medical settings, health
care workers change masks more
frequently to avoid cross-contami-nating
patients.
An N95 mask›s material and
filtration ability aren›t going to
degrade unless you physically rub
it or poke holes in it. You’d have
to be in really polluted air for sev-eral
days before it’s lost its ability
to filter out particles. So, you can
really wear them for a long time.
To reuse N95 masks as safely
as possible, avoid touching the
front outer part of the mask when
putting it on. Instead handle it
by the edges or straps. Avoid
the part right in front of where
you breathe, like right in front
of your nose and mouth. When
removing the mask, hold the edge
of the straps attached to take it
off. If the mask becomes damp,
visibly dirty, bent, creased, or
otherwise damaged -- including
from wearing makeup -- you
need to replace it. These condi-tions
could decrease the mask’s
effectiveness.
The longer you wear it, the more
it’s trapping material -- which
means the breathability, the
resistance of the mask, starts to
decrease. One of the first indicators
it’s time to change it even if it looks
nice and clean, is that it just feels
a little harder to breathe through.
There appears to be more resis-tance
with every breath. The longer
and more frequently you wear an
N95 mask, the more contaminated
it can become. But particles will
die off over the course of a few to
several hours, even faster if you set
the face covering aside in sunlight.
Because N95 masks have that spe-cial
static charge that helps filter
out viruses, you shouldn’t wash
the masks, as water will dissipate
the charge.
There’s no hard-and-fast rule as
to how many times you can wear
these masks before throwing it
away. It’s more important to keep
track of where you wear it and for
how long. For people who wear
their masks for shorter periods
of time or situations where they
remain physically distant from
others throughout the day, some
experts say it’s possible to use the
same one for up to a week.
The difference between N95 and
KN95 masks is where the mask is
certified. The US certifies N95s,
whereas China approves KN95s.
Around 60% of KN95 respira-tors
sold in the US are counter-feit
and don›t meet the require-ments
of the National Institute
for Occupational Health & Safety,
according to the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. If
they›re made to the standard and
certified by the appropriate boards
in their country like NIOSH here,
they all do basically the same thing.
Project N95 www.projectn95.
org is the National Clearinghouse
working to provide equitable access
to personal protective equipment
and coronavirus tests, is a reputable
source for N95 and KN95 masks.
SUMMARY
IT’S TOO SOON TO LET OUR
GUARD DOWN. People have been
getting careless. Understandable
after months of isolation, but the
virus and the risks are still very
much with us. We become impa-tient
with warnings, or we don’t
believe the warnings to be real or
relevant, or we de-emphasize the
actual risk. Then we bend rules or
stop safety behaviors.
We can’t get complacent. Wash
hands, keep those masks on,
observe social distancing!
IF YOU SEE SOMEONE
NOT FOLLOWING THE
GUIDELINES, SPEAK UP--
YOUR LIFE MAY DEPEND
ON IT!
Please take care of yourselves,
stay healthy, use common sense.
You are protecting both yourselves
and those you come in contact
with - loved ones, friends, neigh-bors,
strangers, me, etc.
February 2022 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 9
/www.fda.gov
/www.projectn95.org
/www.projectn95.org
