Experts are calling for surgical and N95 masks to replace common cloth versions for every day use by Australians.
Dr Norman Swan said the masks were outdated thanks to Omicron and Australians needed to upgrade to more heavy-duty protection.
'As the virus becomes more infectious there's less tolerance for aerosol escaping through the mask,' he told the ABC.
'Cloth masks were pretty good against the Wuhan virus but it's not good enough now.'
Dr Norman Swan says cloth masks are now outdated technologies and the country needs to start prioritising the use of more heavy duty facewear
Dr Norman Swan wants Australians to start using N95 medical grade masks
Dr Swan said the strain on hospitals could be vastly improved if better masks were used.
'A minimum is the surgical mask and if you can get an N95 well fitting, that's the key, if it fits well around the face,' he said.
'A poorly fitting N95 wouldn't be as good as a surgical mask.
N95 masks can be uncomfortable to wear, but they do offer the best protection against the virus
He also warned Australians to check the fine print to make sure the masks are approved for medical use and appropriate for handling the spread of Covid.
'This is a situation of buyers beware, controversy blew up in 2020 when many hundreds of supposed N95s came onto the market and many were counterfeit and forgeries,' he said.
'The blue mask you see everyone in are single use. You've got to be careful if it says for medical use and has an ARTG number on it, which means in theory it does do what it says it does.
'The surgical masks are the ones you should be using, but not a cloth mask.'
Another 32 people died with Covid in New South Wales on Wednesday in the state's second deadliest day on record - but down from Tuesday's record high.
