Is it, though? I do not find this hard to believe. Even if someone did invent a better mask, and the world wanted to beat a path to its door, do we look like the type of society that can get that approved and allowed and scaled up this quickly, complete with public buy-in?
Having a perfect mask won’t be easily achieved, but you could start by requiring FFP3 masks in all cases where medical workers currently require FFP2 masks.
There’s a question of whether or not that would be overregulation, but reducing infection in hospitals would be a step that reduces overall transmissibility.
We could also put out innovation prices for new mask developments. An X-Prize for masks might be well-spent money. Certainly, it’s much better to spend money there than for gain-of-function research when you care about pandemic prevention.
Having a perfect mask won’t be easily achieved, but you could start by requiring FFP3 masks in all cases where medical workers currently require FFP2 masks.
There’s a question of whether or not that would be overregulation, but reducing infection in hospitals would be a step that reduces overall transmissibility.
We could also put out innovation prices for new mask developments. An X-Prize for masks might be well-spent money. Certainly, it’s much better to spend money there than for gain-of-function research when you care about pandemic prevention.