‘Outlier’: Where Australia is falling behind

Australia’s handling of the pandemic is often measured in terms of cases, deaths, lockdowns and reopenings.

Mistakes have been made along the way, but 2022 represents a concerted effort to “live with the virus”.

That means (most) borders are open, face-to-face learning is back and businesses are once again welcoming customers.

The plan is not without hurdles — most governments have acknowledged there will be bumps along the way.

But experts say Australia’s efforts to live with Covid-19 are missing one thing that could keep millions of people safe — better masks.

OzSage is a multi-disciplinary network of Australian experts that includes infectious diseases expert Professor Raina MacIntyre and public health expert Professor Nancy Baxter, among dozens of others.

On Monday the group wrote an open letter to authorities calling for an urgent rethink on masks.

“Australia is an outlier in regards to not yet recommending or providing high-quality face covering that provide filtration — respirators N95/P2/KF94/FFP2 and ensuring they are provided to the community,” the group wrote.

“The particular masks we are recommending are technically advanced and are known as respirators and do more than cloth or surgical masks to stop you from breathing the Covid-19 virus.”

The group went on to describe how easily Covid-19 is transmitted in the air via small particles, known as aerosols, and how regular cloth masks are not able to prevent them entering the airways.

“These small particles are produced by breathing, talking, and coughing, and they float and linger in the air like cigarette smoke.

“Unlike respirators where air is breathed in through the mask material filtering the air, surgical masks do not seal around the face, so unfiltered air is breathed in via the gaps around the mask. Respirators filter out these small particles containing virus.”

The group cited new measures underway in the US where 400 million N95 respirators are being provided free to the public.

“Covid-19 is an airborne disease. It is therefore crucial that members of the community have the necessary high-quality masks and information to know how to keep themselves safe from Covid-19.

“This is especially true in Australia because two doses of vaccine does not protect well against Omicron and the rates of third dose vaccination are low. Even three doses are not fully protective.

“To minimise community transmission, cloth and surgical masks should be urgently replaced

with respirators.”

NSW Health has information about the P2 mask on its website. It reads: “Disposable P2/N95 face masks (also known as P2/N95 respirators) are able to filter out very fine particles from the air when worn correctly.

“They help reduce exposure to bushfire smoke / poor air quality and associated health effects. P2/N95 face masks are widely available from hardware stores and other safety equipment suppliers.”

The message is that people should have three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine but also wear a well-fitted mask when around others.

Linsey Marr, a researcher at Virginia Tech University, says “cloth masks are not going to cut it with Omicron.

Speaking with National Public Radio in the US, she said KN95 masks or N95 masks are the only masks which offer enough protection against Omicron when it is airborne.

“[People] should feel pretty safe because the booster provides strong protection against severe outcomes, and even if infected people are present and releasing viruses into the air, a properly fitting N95 will reduce the amount you breathe in by 95 per cent or more,” she said.

It is a message being shared by other experts.

Researchers at Duke University found that N95 masks were the most effective in keeping droplets away. According to USA Today, the research conducted last year found N95 masks were 99 per cent effective in blocking respiratory droplets.

Leana Wen from George Washington University’s Milken Institute of Public Health told CNN that cloth masks will not do the job with so many cases of Omicron around.

“We need to be wearing at least a three-ply surgical mask,” she said.

“You can wear a cloth mask on top of that, but do not just wear a cloth mask alone.

“Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations. There’s no place for them in light of Omicron.

“This is what scientists and public health officials have been saying for months, many months, in fact.

“If we’re going to go as far as to say that masks are required, when we don’t come from a mask-wearing culture and people don’t like wearing masks, at least recommend that they wear the most effective mask.”

Originally published as Coalition of Australian health experts calls for urgent rethink on face masks