The High Council of Public Health published new recommendations on Monday evening about masks to be worn by all French people, recommendations relayed Tuesday morning by Olivier Véran.
Home-made masks are now not recommended, unlike surgical masks or certain fabric masks.
DECRYPTION
The news somewhat calls into question the way in which the French are fighting the Covid-19 epidemic: cloth masks would not be very effective against the British variant of the coronavirus.
This sparked legitimate concerns from users who were about to throw them in the trash.
But there is a major nuance: industrial fabric masks, which we can for example buy in the trade, remain valid, affirms the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, Tuesday morning.
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Give preference to surgical masks or those made from category 1 fabric
In fact, the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) talks about homemade masks, those that you make yourself at home.
In particular, he wants to avoid colander masks, these artisanal fabric protections that do not sufficiently filter particles or that yawn, without sufficiently framing the face.
If we take Afnor's standards, category 1 fabric masks filter 90% of particles, while category 2 masks block only 70%.
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How to navigate?
Either a surgical mask or a category 1 mask (level 1 consumer masks), the category of which is written on the packaging, should be preferred.
We must forget the mask that we make at home and which does not offer all the guarantees of protection.
On the other hand, FFP2 masks are not recommended, contrary to what is now advocated by the region of Bavaria, Germany.
If they are not worn properly, they are not protective enough.
Increased safety distance?
The High Council of Public Health also insists in its recommendations on ensuring a safety distance of two meters, and not one meter between each person.
"On the occasion of the December notices on shops or the end of year celebrations, we actually went to these two meters. The penetration of new variants (...) is perhaps the occasion to formalize these two meters, "said the HCSP working group.