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One of the world’s top health research institutes has an online lesson in how you can protect your health with extremely basic materials found at home. A sewing machine is optional.
They won’t do a lot to prevent you from catching the disease. But they will reduce the force of your cough or sneeze, so if you have the novel coronavirus in you, you will not be spreading it as much as you could without a mask.
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Filtering out the differences between all those face masks Back to video
First, there are two main categories of masks.
The N95 mask, officially called a respirator, is certified in the United States by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Plain masks that the hospital gives you if you arrive with a cough do not have this certification.
The name N95 means it filters out 95 per cent of ultra-tiny airborne particles — those only 0.3 microns wide. (There are 1,000 microns in a millimetre.) All N95 models are roughly round or oval and have a moulded look, unlike the rectangular, flat surgical mask.
