There is only one really safe option.........a "fitted" N95 mask. And you need a professional "fit test" done. Not that you can buy any right now. Secondly, the Chinese KN95. Not near as good due to the inability to properly cover your face. Make sure you buy one from the FDA approved vendor list. Lastly, the 3 ply blue masks. OK for limiting the spreading, no good for limiting the catching. Having said that.....all these cute cloth masks are ****. Many Hospitals will not allow employees to wear them. The Govt. should ban these things until the virus is under control. I guess if your goal is to look stylish over actually protecting others, go with the cotton masks and remain part of the problem. Otherwise......get the 3 ply blue or 5 ply KN95 until N95 masks become available again.
...and where exactly does one get "professionally fitted" for an N-95 mask? While there is a lot of good information in your post, there's things you may want to check again.
I'm on an emergency response team and we use scba respirators. We get fit tested for those with our own personal mask that we use. We get it hooked up to a machine that tests for leakage while reading, making faces, turning your head from side to side, bending over to touch your toes, stuff like that. it is a very sensitive machine and will detect even minor leaks. you do have to shave your facial hair beforehand or you'll fail.
I don't know if the n95 test is like this or not, but it's probably similar.
And from my own research, the n95 and kn95 are essentially the same standards but different n95 is a US certification and kn95 is a China certification. actually, a kn95 certification requires fit testing while n95 don't(according to the comparison chart on this page)
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I'm on an emergency response team and we use scba respirators. We get fit tested for those with our own personal mask that we use. We get it hooked up to a machine that tests for leakage while reading, making faces, turning your head from side to side, bending over to touch your toes, stuff like that. it is a very sensitive machine and will detect even minor leaks. you do have to shave your facial hair beforehand or you'll fail.
I don't know if the n95 test is like this or not, but it's probably similar.
And from my own research, the n95 and kn95 are essentially the same standards but different n95 is a US certification and kn95 is a China certification. actually, a kn95 certification requires fit testing while n95 don't(according to the comparison chart on this page)
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/whats-the-difference-between-n95-and-kn95-masks/
Thank you!