A new graphic from The Wall Street Journal offers a clue as to why cloth masks might not stop the omicron variant from spreading.
The graphic — which was shared widely on social media Wednesday — shows how long it takes for someone to get infected with COVID-19 if they’re wearing a certain type of mask and speaking with someone wearing a specific type of mask (or not one at all).
The graphic includes how long it would take for people wearing nothing, cloth masks, surgical masks and N95 masks to be infected by those wearing the same type of mask.
In all, the graphic shows that wearing an N95 mask offers the greatest protection. In fact, someone would be protected for 2.5 hours if they wore N95 masks and were talking to someone without a mask at all.
However, the graphic — which uses data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention —
is a clear sign that cloth masks are less effective than before.