Cloth masks won't protect against the omicron variant of COVID-19, experts say

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Health experts say cloth masks do not protect against the current dominant COVID-19 variant omicron. Linsey Marr, who works as a researcher at Virginia Tech, told NPR, “cloth masks are not going to cut it with omicron.”

Though cloth masks rose to prominence due to the ongoing pandemic, and many people still wear them as a form of protection. According to USA Today, health officials suggest cloth masks do not protect against small virus particles seeping into the mouth or nose. Omicron is now regarded as the most contagious and easily transmissible variant of COVID-19. Experts say maybe not even cloth masks with thick material can stop the variant.

Dr. Robert Wachter is the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco also spoke with NPR about the contagious variant. “It’s very contagious,” Wachter told NPR. “And the kind of encounter that you could have had with prior versions of the virus that would have left you uninfected, there’s now a good chance you will get infected from it.”

Instead, experts recommend people wear N95 or KN95 masks to protect against omicron.

https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2022/01/cloth-masks-wont-protect-against-the-omicron-variant-experts-say.html