These days, as Coronavirus is rapidly spreading out all over the country, people start to raise their awareness and take measures to protect themselves. One of the examples is wearing face masks.
Some people wonder which face mask they would have to wear. They do not realize the relative effectiveness of each face masks and without those information, they tend to buy random types of face masks in the pharmacy. To prevent such cases, I went to ‘Dogok Tower Pharmacy’ and asked for an interview.
While all of the masks had its own pros and cons, I noticed that they all have relatively similar effects against Coronavirus. “There are mainly five masks: simple cloth mask, medical mask used for surgery, KF 80, KF 94, and KF 99. Out of those five, many people buy KF 80 and KF 94. But, what me and other pharmacist strongly agree is that no matter the type of masks, they equally prevent contacts of Coronavirus. We believe that the different namings of masks just depend on how long you can use the mask. For example, while they have virtually similar effects, for simple cloth mask, you have to wash it daily, and for medical mask, you have to change it daily as well. But for KF 80 and KF 94, you can use it up to 2 days. And lastly, I personally don’t recommend using KF 99 because you won’t be able to breathe properly and it is pretty uncomfortable,” said the pharmacist.
Whatever other people might say, it is true that wearing face masks will give them extra shield for their own body. Therefore, it is critical to get certain face masks regardless of their type to mitigate further spread of Coronavirus.
-Written By: Minji Kwon