CDC: CLOTH FACE MASKS USED TO STOP COVID-19 WILL NOT STOP WILDFIRE SMOKE INHALATION

Smoke particles are smaller than COVID-19 particles, according to the CDC

National File 

 

In a Facebook post offering advice to those on the West Coast who are suffering under immense wildfires, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention advised that those in areas impacted by smoke pollution do not wear the same masks they use to protect against the spread of COVID-19, as the burned materials that smoke particles consist of are actually smaller than the airborne saliva from a person’s mouth that carries COVID-19.

 

“Cloth masks that are used to slow the spread of COVID-19 offer little protection against wildfire smoke,” CDC representatives wrote on Facebook as the wildfires emerged as a threat. “They do not catch small particles found in wildfire smoke that can harm your health.”

 

On their web page, Wildfire Smoke and COVID-19, the CDC explains that, with no added emphasis from National File, “Cloth masks will notprotect you from wildfire smoke.”

 

“Although N95 respirators do provide protection from wildfire smoke,” the CDC explains, “They might be in short supply as frontline healthcare workers use them during the pandemic.”

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