South Korea's Kosk: A Covid-19 Safe Eating?
Mask covers only Nose, More safe or No safe?
CDC recommended USA people wear high protective masks, well fitted and for consistent use.
After the Free at-home Covidtests initiative, the Federal government’s next initiative to protect the people is to provide Free N95 Masks.
Across the country, the masks are distributed at tens of thousands of pharmacies and 100-200 community health centers.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the majority of pharmacies that have partnered with the federal government to provide COVID vaccines are participating in the mask program.
Some are already delivering them, while others say they will start by the end of this week.
When people in the USA run for high protective N95 masks, South Korea’s new mask design of KOSK, brought worldwide attention.
What is KOSK?
Kosk is a new design of the covid19-safety mask, Which covers only the Nose.
Why should you wear a mask only on Nose? This kosk is introduced for covid-safety eating and drinking.
When we dine in a crowd or with other people wearing Kosk will cover the nose to protect us from sars-cov-2 viruses.
KO- Means “Nose” in Korean language, SK – last two letters from the mask. Mask which was made to wear on Nose is called KOSK.
How is it Different from Mask?
Mask which we wear to protect us from covid viruses, covers your complete Nose and mouth area, Well fitted masks protect the entry of viruses into our body.
The Kosk can be worn like a traditional face mask, covering both the nose and the mouth, but it can also be folded up to cover only the wearer’s nose.
Kosk was made to wear during the time of drinking or eating. maybe called as new covid dining etiquette?
The strange mask, made by the South Korean company Atman, has gone popular online and received various views.
The Kosk is available for purchase online from the American-South Korean e-commerce website Coupang, with a pack of ten costing roughly $11.42.
On the website, the product garnered a five-star rating from 118 reviewers.
More protective or Unsafe?
One research study says that “Nasal ciliated cells are primary targets for sars-coV-2 viruses”.
The nose is the easiest way for the covid-19 virus to enter the body.
Kosk is a KF80 (Korean Filter) mask (KF80 is certified by the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, has been widely used in Korea to filter bioaerosols and PMs.)
Despite the lack of any guarantee of their filtration efficiency, anti droplet and fabric masks have been widely utilized to prevent bioaerosol airborne transmission.
Even though Kosk is made of KF80, more study is needed on how much the protection kosk will deliver.
Similarly, Spar Clone Fabric, also on Coupang, sells three reusable “Copper Antivirus Nose Masks” that just cover the nose at all times.
The masks are intended to be worn beneath a conventional mask that covers the mouth and can be removed when dining or drinking with other people.
What Experts Say about this Kosk?
Professor Catherine Bennett, chair in epidemiology at Deakin University’s Institute for Health Transformation in Australia, told 9News that the Kosks is a “strange idea,” but that they are “better than nothing.”
“It’s probably only a minor difference,” she replied.
The professor observed that while the Kosk would certainly prevent individuals from wearing masks in public areas, it would also likely cause people to be less likely to remember to cover their mouths immediately after eating.
What did People say about Kosk?
This mask went viral on social media(Kosk).
And got more critics. “make no sense”, “got to be a joke” people started arguments.
Someone mentioned an ABS-CBN tweet Dated March 25, 2021, “Will eat and drink but still want a layer of protection against #Covid19? Researchers in Mexico created a nose-only mask to protect us from coronavirus even when eating or drinking, (Carlos Jasso, Reuters).
Can I Wear a Kosk?
Omicron and omicron variants threat still we are facing in the USA and around the world.
This is not the situation to fall for some new kind of mask that was not covering the mouth.
There is no study to prove kosk is effective. Let’s wait for studies on kosk.
As CDC recommends, please use Most protective masks like N95 masks, “Any mask is better than no mask.”.
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