The Delta variant is causing a rise in new Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations in the US. As the chief characteristic of the new variant is that it is highly contagious, there has to be even more stress on curbing its spread. Vaccines are the best protection science offers, but masks remain the first line of defense, and the mask mandate is making a comeback for indoor public places and public transport. Los Angeles has done it; St Louis is doing so from Monday – for all including the vaccinated. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/24/st-louis-missouri-mask-mandate-indoors/] Some experts say asking people to mask up is not enough, as not all kinds of masks are equally effective in blocking the virus. They say the mandate should specify the better variety, like N95.

Priority #1 should be to get the unvaccinated to vaccine centers, but given their hesitancy, the next best option is to go for masks – and not just any but the more powerful ones.

“I don’t think we should just talk about masks. I think we should be talking about high-quality masks,” Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner said in a TV chat.

Watch: CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbKGAVwY1w8
Transcript:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-scott-gottlieb-on-face-the-nation-on-july-18-2021/

Monica Gandhi, an infectious-disease expert at the University of California at San Francisco, said the same thing to The Washington Post: “We can’t say we’re going back to masks without discussing type of mask.” [https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/n95-mask-delta-variant-kn95/2021/07/23/ee849e6c-eafe-11eb-97a0-a09d10181e36_story.html]

At the beginning of the outbreak, any piece of clothing covering the mouth and the nose was promoted around the world, in the absence of quality masks. Then came the simple, disposable surgical masks. With the Delta, several experts quoted in media reports recommend medical-grade respirators like N95, which provide far more protection against infectious coronavirus particles.

Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert at Virginia Tech who studies airborne virus transmission, says the woven material of many cloth masks isn’t as effective at filtering particles as the nonwoven, meltblown polypropylene used to make surgical masks and respirators. Unlike surgical masks, they also fit the face better, and block at least 95% airborne particulates.

CDC Guide:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/FilteringOutConfusion.html

A different view:
‘Forget Mask Mandates. Vaccines Are the Only Answer’
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/opinion/covid-vaccine-masks-lockdown-mandates.html