Coronavirus information

10:49 · 6 July 2021

Masking up: FFP2 masks to protect others and yourself

When number of cases is high, community masks are often no longer sufficient. At this point, it has become mandatory to wear FFP2 or other face masks that provide medical protection in public spaces. Find out what you need to know about the masks here.

FFP2 masks protect us all.

Shutterstock / Kzenon

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, masks have become an integral part of our daily lives. According to the Robert Koch Institute, the virus’ main mode of transmission aside from droplet infection is infection through aerosols. This means that when coughing or sneezing, those infected expel tiny droplets containing viral particles into the environment. If the particles travel through the air and reach the mucous membranes of other people, they could get infected. If a person infected with the coronavirus wears a mask, it contains some of the droplets, so these cannot spread as fast as without protection. Larger droplets fall to the ground relatively quickly and the risk of infection decreases with increasing distance. Therefore, you should keep a minimum distance of 1.5 metres to prevent droplet infection.

Face masks help to slow the spread of viruses

Aerosols are miniscule droplets that are expelled into the environment even when whispering or talking, but more so when speaking loudly, shouting or singing. Aerosols do not fall to the ground nearly as quickly as droplets and, depending on their size, may remain suspended in the air and spread for hours indoors. That means, there is not only a risk of infection if someone nearby coughs in your direction or sneezes. Therefore, a room should be aired regularly by ventilating.

While at the beginning, most people wore cloth masks, the masks most commonly seen now in shops, on buses or trains or at the workplace are medical facemasks (also known as surgical masks) and filtering facepiece respirators (such as FFP2 masks). Surgical, FFP2, FFP3 and KN95/N95 masks are more effective in terms of protection than community masks and were, until now, reserved for medical and nursing staff as well as risk patients. If they seal tightly onto the face, FFP2, FFP3 and KN95/N95 masks especially not only protect against droplet infection, but also provide a high level of protection against aerosols.

Nowadays, however, surgical, FFP2, FFP3 and N95/KN95 masks are also recommended for everyday use and wearing such a mask is mandatory in many places. Especially in situations where it is impossible to always adhere to the distancing rules and several people come together over a longer period of time, surgical and FFP2-, FFP3 and KN95/N95-grade masks provide an increased level of protection against infection that common community masks cannot offer. Those masks differ from community masks in the way they are used and in their purpose.

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Hướng dẫn cho các gia đình lớn hoặc mở rộng sống trong cùng một nhà (cdc.gov)



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