The past 2 years have been spent on learning and understanding the importance of various routes of SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission. Recently a new study that came out of Hong Kong suggests that the new omicron variant might survive a longer time on everyday objects compared to its early precedes.
In early pandemic times, people used to follow serious hygiene and precautions to keep themselves safe from the virus. But as the years passed, when the COVID is still prevailing around the globe, it has become new normal for everyone living around the virus and not taking enough precautions. But if this keeps continuing death rates might raise high and more economic crises can take place. The main way people get infected by the virus is through the air and touching contaminated surfaces.
After a lot of research, it was found that heavily-mutated spike protein has been found to be more stable compared to its ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain. So, how can an individual protect himself/herself from this new omicron strain? This is everybody's concern. But this will blog will give you clear guidelines on the topic.
How Can You Protect Yourself From This New Omicron Strain?
Using personal protective gear is the best resource to keep oneself safe from COVID and other life-threatening air-borne diseases. According to medical health care experts, respirators like N95 and KN95 particulate respirators are effective in protecting oneself from COVID – 19 virus and its mutants like new omicron. When an individual speaks, sneezes, or coughs respiratory droplets come out and travel several distances. If these virus droplets enter into another person through the mouth or nose, then the novel coronavirus infection can occur.
To avoid this, we shall have to use highly protective face masks like N95 respirators. The N95 particulate respirators act as barriers in reducing the risk of getting infected by the virus and its mutants by blocking the droplets without entering the body.
Masking practices have evolved since the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic but people still have confusion on which masks to prefer. Here is a brief idea of each variety of masks that can keep you at bay:
- Cloth Mask
The cloth mask is only effective when it is worn with a surgical mask. The cloth mask reduces larger droplet emissions that come from the infected person to some extent and they only offer significant protection from the unaffected wearer because the material cannot filter out small particles.
- Surgical Mask
The surgical mask is made using good three-ply filtering materials and they give protection against small and large particles. The drawback of these masks is they do not provide a seal to the face and they leave gaps between the edges. You can improve the proper fit to the face mask only by following double masking.
- N95 Particulate Respirators/N95 Masks
The N95 particulate respirators are made using the global standard materials. These N95 particulate respirators ensure proper fit to the wearer and filter out 95% of airborne particles. They also filter out small to tiny particles very efficiently.
Why N95 Particulate Respirator Is The Best Option For The New Omicron Variant?
An N95 filtering facepiece respirator also called an N95 particulate respirator is a filtering respirator that has NIOSH standards of approval. the N95 particulate respirator is resistant to oil and filters for at least 95% of airborne particles. These N95 respirators are made from synthetic plastic fibers that are similar compared to the fibers present in the polyester and synthetic shirts. Due to the presence of synthetic fibers in the mask, it feels comfortable for the wearer. The manufacturers often give electrostatic charge to the polypropylene material present in the respirator this helps the respirator filter out the virus particles more effectively.
As the N95 face mask is made with high-quality materials such as polypropylene which makes them comfortable to wear. If you need to defend yourself from the new omicron variant wearing an N95 respirator is the right choice as they provide excellent coverage to the wearer without leaving any gaps.
What Further Precautions Are Needed To Keep Safe From The New Omicron Variant?
- Avoid social gatherings and heavy crowds
- Disinfect your hands using a sanitizer that consists for at least 66% of alcohol content after touching the surfaces
- Get the booster dose of vaccination if you are not vaccinated yet
- Maintain social distancing for at least 3 meters
- Always use highly qualified and excellent filtered respirators such as N95 and KN95 these masks have high filtration efficiency and keep yourself safe from the virus droplets present in the air.
Conclusion
As the new omicron variant stays much longer on surfaces hand hygiene is very essential followed by mouth and nose coverings. Use disinfectants and sanitizers after touching the surfaces and prefer to only wear highly filtering N95 masks. These act as barriers and provide protection from the virus.
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