With the newly adapted Infection Protection Act, the mask requirement is to return from October. But what is the real use of mouth and nose protection? And do FFP2 masks actually protect better than medical masks? We have summarized the most important information for you.
The adjustment of the corona protection requirements in view of a possible corona autumn wave had been in the air for a long time. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann have now agreed on a strategy. The only thing missing is parliamentary approval.
According to the new draft, countries should again be able to impose a mask requirement in public spaces – for example in shops, restaurants or schools from the fifth grade – from October 1st. Only FFP2 masks should be mandatory on long-distance trains and airplanes – medical masks were previously also allowed here. In addition, there should also be a mask and test requirement in hospitals and care facilities.
But from the experts’ point of view, can a general mask requirement in public spaces actually protect us from a corona autumn wave? And do FFP2 masks actually protect better than the medical version?
In addition to droplet infection, the main transmission route of the coronavirus is infection via aerosols. When they cough, sneeze and even speak, infected people release fine droplets containing virus particles into the environment. If an infected person wears a mask, the majority of the droplets are retained – the risk of infection is therefore significantly reduced, as numerous studies have now shown.
A study by the Max Planck Institute from last year examined how high the respective risk of corona infection is in different situations with and without a mask.
The researchers recognized that even a distance of three meters from an infected and contagious person without a mask will lead to a corona infection with one hundred percent certainty. The following scenarios were checked with regard to the lower risk of infection by wearing a mask.
Wearing a mask – whether FFP2 or medical – reduces the risk of infection many times over. The study also shows that a well-fitting FFP2 mask usually protects even better than a well-fitting medical mask. But what does “well seated” mean?
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) provides information on its website on how to wear the FFP2 mask correctly. We have summarized the most important steps for putting on and taking off:
Especially with regard to the significantly higher price compared to medical masks, the question arises as to how long an FFP2 mask should be worn. According to the RKI, the continuous wearing time should not exceed 75 minutes. In the professional field, masks should not be used repeatedly.
Masks can be reused privately under certain conditions, as scientists from the University of Applied Sciences in Münster and the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster have shown in a study. After seven days of airing and drying, the amount of infectious corona viruses is reduced to an acceptable level.
You should therefore not wear an FFP2 mask on consecutive days, but at the earliest from the seventh day. In addition, the “dry cycle” should only be repeated a maximum of five times. You should also always dispose of the mask if you notice that a mask is defective, you have been coughed on directly or a mask is particularly stressed.
Against the background of the study situation on the effectiveness of the masks, Ralf Reintjes, epidemiologist at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, also evaluates the measure of the mask requirement on planes, long-distance traffic as well as in care facilities and hospitals in an interview with FOCUS Online as sensible.
Alexander Kekulé also summarizes the obvious advantages of mouth and nose protection in the MDR podcast “Corona-Kompass”: “The mask is easy to recognize, it is easy to identify. And it’s very effective.”
The adjustment of the protective measures is still met with a lot of criticism. According to the statements of the general manager of the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry, Matthias von Randow, a tightening of the mask requirement is “not proportionate and incomprehensible”. Since she doesn’t exist in any other European country, she is “difficult to place today”, criticized von Randow in an interview with the “Bild” newspaper.
The change in the original draft with regard to possible exceptions to the mask requirement – for example for vaccinated and recovered people – for example in restaurants – met with a lack of understanding.
The previously planned exceptions have been converted into an optional regulation for the federal states. There should therefore only be a mandatory exception to the mask requirement if the person has just been tested.
Reintjes assesses the “can option” of the countries as extremely questionable. “I see the danger here that implementation will be made more difficult in practice and the protective effect of the measures will be reduced. In epidemiology, one speaks of an expected dilution effect,” explains the expert.
He also emphasizes that from an epidemiological point of view and from the point of view of practical feasibility for the protection of many citizens, it would make more sense to introduce a nationwide regulation than to be confronted with a “patchwork” of different regulations.
Many federal states also criticize the planned regulations. “The law raises many, many questions in terms of implementation, enforcement and practicability,” says Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek.
In the debate on the previously very vaguely formulated regulations, Gerald Gaß, CEO of the German Hospital Association, calls for clear regulations on the obligation to wear masks: “Politicians must decide, in the event of high incidences, either a general obligation to wear masks indoors and on public transport for everyone to make this protective measure mandatory or to leave this protective measure to the personal responsibility of the people, as is now common in many European countries,” explains Gaß in an interview with the “Rheinische Post”.
