The health advice since the start of the COVID pandemic has been to wear a face mask. But if the Omicron variant has taught us anything, it’s that not all face masks are made equal.
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“Omicron is such an incredibly infectious agent, probably the most contagious pathogen on Earth,” said Lawrence Gostin, professor of global health law at Georgetown University and the director of the World Health Organization Center on Global Health Law.
“A cloth mask is doing virtually nothing at this stage.”
Professor Gostin suggested that as cloth masks are “virtually useless against this kind of airborne aerosolised pathogen”, it would be wise to invest in some more quality masks.
The best face masks in Australia are currently N95 masks, otherwise known as P2 masks. These are able to filter out fine air particles by forming a tight seal around the face.
Just like we shared some stores that are stocking Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs), we’ve rounded up some places to procure N95 masks below.