High-quality face masks important tool to combat virus

Masks are going to be important parts of the uniform for school children as New Zealand moves to a traffic light system to deal with Covid, and getting ones that fit properly is vital.

Local studies have confirmed World Health Organisation guidance that close-fitting respirator masks are far more effective at keeping Covid out than cloth or flat fold surgical masks.

An increasing number of hospitals, aged care facilities, airlines and medical centres around the world and in

New Zealand are refusing to let people enter without new disposable respirator masks.

Dr Shaun Tan, head of technology at Auckland-based filter and face mask manufacturer Lanaco, says that face masks are not all the same.

“Only a few perform well enough to protect the wearer from Delta.”

Masks must have a quality low resistance filter and fit properly so that there are no inward or outward leaks, he says, and most cloth and flat fold surgicals just don’t fit people’s faces closely enough to keep out Covid virus particles.

Face masks have two functions — to reduce transmission from infected people to the general population, and individual protection to stop aerosol transmission. To do those functions, the masks must have an effective fit that seals over the mouth and nose, an effective filter, and be easy to breathe through.

Dr Tan says that with the move to open up New Zealand, face masks are going to become extremely important. This is even more so for environments such as schools, which could be petri dishes for the virus.

Lanaco makes disposable face masks and is now making masks small enough to fit 8-year-old children.

The company has partnered with Rotary Clubs nationally to distribute donated masks to schools through the Rotary 1 Million Masks scheme, and is now reaching out to schools and other educational institutions to offer masks at a reduced rate so that good protection is accessible to the whole country.

The cost of face masks is a small burden, but the costs and risk of poor masking is higher, Dr Tan says.

Lanaco supplies masks and filters across the world from its Auckland factory, using technology incorporating sheep’s wool from the South Island. Its filters have been selected for their exceptional performance by NASA for space flight, and its unique masks used by the NZ Team at the Tokyo Olympics.