FFP2 Face Masks are equivalent to N95 Face Masks, meeting World Health Organization guidelines for protecting against Covid-19. FFP2 face masks are simply much more effective than fabric face coverings at filtering out dangerous particles, such as the particles from Covid-19.
As high as infection risks are without mouth-to-nose protection, a medical-grade mask or an FFP2 mask protects efficiently. Clearly, FFP2 masks offer better protection than surgical or cloth masks, but only when used properly. Although a detailed analysis from researchers at Max Planck Gottingen showed that tightly fitted FFP2 masks provided up to 75 times better protection than properly fitted surgical masks, and that how a mask is worn makes a massive difference; medical masks also greatly reduced infection risks when compared with situations with no protection of the mouth-nose area at all. The full-scale study also supports the intuitive hypothesis that, to effectively protect against infections, an infected person, in particular, needs to wear a mask that filters well as much as possible and fits tight on the face.
The study confirmed that either the FFP2 or N95 masks are especially effective in filtering infectious particles out of the air — particularly if the mask is sealed tightly around the face. The research found the masks offering the highest levels of protection for both wearers and those around them are the FFP2 masks, and there is a similar type of respirator mask known as N95 that is available in the United States. FFP2, FFP3, N95, and other respirator masks are effective in protecting wearers against viral transmission.
If surgically sealed securely to the face, FFP2, FFP3 and KN95/N95 masks in particular are protective not only against droplet infections, but they provide high levels of aerosol protection. Especially in situations when distancing rules cannot be consistently followed, and multiple individuals are coming together for long periods, surgical masks, as well as masks with the grades FFP2, FFP3 and KN95/N95, offer a higher level of infection protection than what is offered by the usual public masks.
Nowadays, however, surgical, FFP2, FFP3 and N95/KN95 masks are also recommended for daily use, and wearing such masks is mandated in many places. While standard surgical and cloth masks provide protection from certain airborne particles and the coronavirus, you will want to invest in a N95, FFP2 or KN95 mask for more robust protection. No, you do not have to wear a two-piece mask or an N95 respirator in a public setting to protect against a novel strain of coronavirus.
If you do wish to protect yourself from COVID-19, select a mask with COVID-19, FFP3, or FFP2 ratings (you must keep in mind that only certain masks of that category filter particles as small as coronavirus). Class FFP1 masks are designed to protect against fine powders and aerosol particles, and when these masks can filter particles as small as 0.11um (the size of COVID-19 coronavirus particles), they offer effective virus protection. New studies by Surrey University and Bristol University, as well as the University of Exeter, Surrey and the University of Paris-ESPCI, show that the filter-facepiece FFP2 (Factory-Face-Pattern) respirator masks are up to five times more efficient in filtering particles carrying Covid-19 viruses compared to fabric-face-piece face-pieces.