As COVID cases spread in Taiwan, and the omicron variant proliferates abroad, COVID safety is a top priority. The U.S. CDC has indicated that the public might want to wear medical-grade N95 masks in daily life. We spoke to a Taiwanese doctor and pulmonary expert to get the lowdown in a Taiwanese context.

With omicron sweeping the globe, reports suggest the U.S. CDC may advise citizens to upgrade their face masks. The pandemic is heating up in Taiwan too. Many are concerned about the more highly transmissible variant.

Dr. Huang Hsuan
Pulmonary and Critical Care Specialist
For most people, wearing an N95 mask for a long time is extremely uncomfortable. Wear two masks. The inner layer must be a medical mask, the outer layer must be a cloth mask. That will stop 96.4% of viruses spread by aerosol transmission.

Pulmonary and Critical Care specialist Dr. Huang Hsuan黃軒 says he thinks that N95 masks in Taiwan should still be reserved for medical workers. But by taking some extra steps, the average citizen can improve the effectiveness of a normal mask. Wearing two different types of mask layered upon one another, first medical, then cloth, is his suggestion. It will create a tighter seal, but also last longer than an N95 mask. But the medical mask must be the inner layer, he warns, or it won’t work.

Dr. Huang Hsuan
Pulmonary and Critical Care Specialist
You can’t use two of the same type of mask. That will have no effect on the tightness of the seal. It will leak air in the same places.

Dr. Huang warns that people with suppressed immune systems or cardiovascular diseases should not wear multiple masks. Instead, think about following this U.S. CDC demo for how to tie your mask.

By tying the strings in a knot, you pull the mask closer to your face. Or you can use a frame like this one, to fix the mask closer to your face.

Both these methods are approved by the U.S. CDC, which says they reduce aerosol transmission.

If you don’t have a medical mask available, Taiwanese manufacturers have now produced a 3D mask with the same specs of N95. But unlike an N95, it can be folded up, and then opened with a simple wave, reducing the need to touch its surface.

Chen Yen-chua
Mask manufacturer
It''s the same grade as an N95 or an FFP2, and is extremely close-fitting. It contains your whole face from below your eye to your cheeks and chin.

But no matter what type of mask you opt for…

The key is to get it to fit as close to your face as you can. Keeping it on as much as possible is the No. 1 way to improve your COVID precautions.