Mask wars: Countries face off over how to cover up

Several countries are mandating medical-grade masks in community settings as more infectious coronavirus variants spread across Europe, relegating homemade cloth masks to the outdated health recommendations of 2020. But many others, as well as the World Health Organization, are standing behind their support of fabric face coverings. To get more news about famous FFP2 mask supplier, you can visit tnkme.com official website.

Experts calling for widespread use of more protective masks say it comes down to a fundamental disagreement about what kind of science is “good enough” to support their policy recommendations. This dispute over the evidence on masks — along with concerns over costs, supply and the accessibility of more protective coverings — is holding back most countries from upgrading their mask recommendations.It’s been a tumultuous ride. In March 2020, the World Health Organization’s line was that masks weren't needed for healthy people. Then, in April, it significantly softened its stance, and its subsequent mask guidance iterations became increasingly more accepting of the value of masks in the community. European governments followed suit and became the unlikely source of “how-to” guides for making cloth masks.

Since then, apart from the occasional protest against lockdown restrictions and mask mandates, the debate has mostly died down in Europe — in contrast to some other countries, such as the United States.

But as more infectious virus variants began spreading across Europe, some countries, including Germany, Austria and France, have tightened rules, in some cases making FFP2 masks (often known as N95 masks in the U.S. and KN95 in Asia) compulsory in more densely populated settings.

The German state of Bavaria mandated FFP2 protective masks in January, which was quickly followed by a country-wide obligation to wear a medical-grade mask inside shops or on public transport. On January 25, Austria jumped on the bandwagon, specifically requiring FFP2 masks in these situations. France, meanwhile, has recommended against wearing some homemade masks that don’t meet certain standards.

“Whereas fabric masks, or blue and white surgical masks, stop you breathing out infectious virus onto other people, FFP2 masks are also designed to protect the wearer from breathing in infectious virus shed in aerosols from infected individuals,” explained Lawrence Young, professor of molecular oncology at the Warwick Medical School, of the science behind the new recommendations.

But many other European countries, as well as the WHO, are sticking to their current advice. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19, says there's no evidence yet of a change in the mode of transmission — and she emphasized the WHO isn't planning on changing its advice. The “limited and inconsistent scientific evidence” on masks in community settings is grounds for not recommending higher-grade masks, she says.