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So according to some research, COVID infections cause a lot of problems with your immune system and actually increase the likelihood of getting other infections. I can link the studies is you're interested. Have you gotten COVID yet? What kind of mask are you wearing?
Mostly the blue standard ones or the medical mask. Only got Covid a couple of months ago when it was largely deemed 'gone' over here (it never left, of course).
I'm sure you're probably aware that the surgical ones don't protect you much, they're mostly a cheap and easy way to keep asymptomatic infected people from spreading the disease to others. If everyone was doing surgicals, it'd be great. But if you're the only one who masks, they don't filter for your too well.
N95s and FFP2s have a long history of development, they've been protecting workers from dangerous dusts for decades, and the science of how they work is really solid. Again, please ask for my sources if you're interested.
I read research earlier about wearing two masks being more effective but I don’t know how up to date that is since this was in like 2021
Just wear one properly fitted N95 or equivalent mask. It'll cut your infection risk down to nearly nil if it fits and is worn properly.
NGL the data is really confusing, since there's no much research out there and it's really hard to structure a perfect study during a deadly pandemic. But generally N95s will reduce your risk by 70% or more, while surgicals will reduce it by less than 30%. If you make sure to do a fit test, a N95 is going to protect well above 90%. The main issue with N95 failure is with leakage, if your mask leaks then it will be much less effective.
Yeah, I just wear my KN95 and don’t worry about it beyond that. I’ve got my boosters and am in good health and wear mask and stay away from people. I’m sure I could read more research to lower risk even more but beyond this I’m not really that concerned
Neither of those work. You need a rated mask. The US standard is N95 - Filters 99.95% of particles of I think 2.5 microns, and considerably more above and below that number. The KN95 standard I believe is Korean and has a similar filtration level. I don't know what the equivalent EU standard is.
But medical masks only filter about 40% of the material we're worried about, and only if they fit right which they mostly don't.