Should you stick exclusively to medical-grade masks?
Credit: ANDREAS GORA/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Virtually every country affected by Covid-19 now has some sort of law or guidance encouraging the use of face coverings in public places, and it is easy to be overwhelmed by the variety of masks on offer; cloth, surgical, homemade, medical-grade – the list goes on.
In the UK, it is compulsory to cover your nose and mouth (unless you have a medical exemption) when on public transport, in shops or when not seated at a table in a hospitality venue. But the law does not specify which materials should be used in your mask, and does not give any formal standards to which masks or coverings must be made.