From what I understand, the N95 only protects against substances of 3 microns or more. The Coronavirues is 1 micron...
It sounds like the N95 does provide some protection filtering out droplets that contain the coronavirus. I don't know if the virus just floats around in the air with no substance to act as a carrier.
It bugs me that all the alerts specify surgical masks when most people buying masks are probably looking for N95s. And it sounds like they are discouraging people from buying masks so they can all go to health care workers.
From an article in Business Insider
N95 respirators filter out most airborne particles from the surrounding air, preventing wearers from breathing in particles down to 0.3 microns in diameter. These types of masks are often used when air quality is poor due to wildfire smoke or pollution, and they're designed to fit tightly against one's face.<
When worn correctly, N95 respirators block out at least 95% of small airborne particles. So the respirators can filter out some droplets carrying coronavirus. The coronavirus itself measures between .05 and 0.2 microns in diameter, according to a recent article in The Lancet.
When the Ebola thing came up I did a deep dig into viral vectors. Here is what I learned.
Viruses dont free float in the air. They are suspended in moisture particles or and those droplets can piggyback on dust. Basically aerolized spit and snot. Those do not pass a N95 mask. Mind you, eye protection is also required and gloves are helpful. The other thing a mask and goggles prevent is inadvertent eye mouth and nose touching. People do it on average 3 to 4 times an hour.
“From what I understand, the N95 only protects against substances of 3 microns or more. The Coronavirues is 1 micron...”
I suspect that most are attached to airborne particles or water droplets.
“From what I understand, the N95 only protects against substances of 3 microns or more. The Coronavirues is 1 micron...”
the masks filter the water droplets that carry the virus; viruses don’t float around just by themselves ... more importantly, ordinary, non-fitted masks are mainly worn by those who have a cough to prevent spewing virus-laden water drops in the air; unless fitted tightly, unfiltered air is pulled in around the edges, so such masks (even N95) don’t offer a lot of protection from infection ...