Difference between surgical masks and N95 respirators
The problem is that when you use any major search engine, they're all giving results from NIH, FDA, WHO, and CDC. You have to go 5, 6, 10 pages down to find any industry-specific information on the masks.
Coronaviruses are ~0.1 microns in size. N95 masks use overlapping cloth fibers that are very effective at what they do, but you do need a medical-grade N95 to get that protection and... it needs to be properly fitted!
A MAJORITY of the people wearing them out in the world are not wearing them appropriately. I wore an actual half-face respirator when doing work in an asbestos remediation zone, and it's supposed to be difficult to breathe. Not laborious, but it's not like breathing freely.
A properly-fitted N95 make breathing difficult, especially if it's being reused or used in a high humidity environment. It's like breathing through a wet rag. No one is going to go to those lengths, and if they do, God love em.
A surgical mask will do the same thing..but not as well.
Also, 3m masks have a charge that helps.
You can try to do the same thing on surgical masks. Of course, it won’t be the same..and may not even work well. But you can do a static charge on a surgical mask to enhance it. CLearly it wouldn’t work all day but might work for going into a store.
I have never bothered to do it. I saw a Dr explain how to do it but I can’t remember what he used.
They will have to ban facial hair, as any mask will leak if it touches facial hair at any point during its use.
I think that anyone that doesn’t have to wear a mask is a fool to do so.
In my career I have worn full face respirators and SCBAs. Both are a pain in the keester to put on, wear and take off. And as you say make breathing difficult, even just standing around. I had to wear it climbing up and down ladders in hot summer weather.
But what baffles me most is I have seen people in their cars, alone, wearing what looks like N05s.
All newer cars have cabin air filters which I believe are HEPA filters. Which are superior to N95s.
Why on Earth would you wear an uncomfortable mask in your car when you are alone, sitting in filtered air?
People don’t think.