this is the hill I will die on

there's no reason why we shouldn't be wearing cheap procedure masks in public

we must break this taboo

people can refer to South Korea, but what's up with Japan? Hygiene and masks.

Yea. I think this is eventually coming. For us to have any chance at a return to something that looks like normalcy in this country we'll be wearing masks and having temperature checks.

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there's no reason why we shouldn't be wearing cheap procedure masks in public

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Serious question - where can we purchase these masks (and not prevent medical professionals from getting what they need)?

MiMi said:

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there's no reason why we shouldn't be wearing cheap procedure masks in public

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Serious question - where can we purchase these masks (and not prevent medical professionals from getting what they need)?

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Exactly. I'd love to wear a mask, but have no idea where to get one.

Seems to me that this is much easier and should be pretty effective. If the majority of transmission is sneezing, coughing and water droplets then this should lower the amount significantly. For the public make them cloth so they can be washed and re-used eliminating the the purchase of hospital grade PPE. It won't be perfect but should lower transmision.

MiMi said:

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there's no reason why we shouldn't be wearing cheap procedure masks in public

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Serious question - where can we purchase these masks (and not prevent medical professionals from getting what they need)?

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Unfortunately since we shipped the vast majority of our manufacturing sector to China, domestic production is very limited. China is also holding masks for their own domestic consumption, it is very difficult to get mask now in the US, even for those in the medical profession.

We could clearly pivot much of our garment industry to making masks, but I have no idea what the bottleneck on materials would be.

But yeah, the incredibly high demand for masks in Asia, and the fact that much of our manufacturing was housed there, did a real number on supply.

re-upping

when we get out of shelter in place, please wear some form of mask in public

it's critical if we want this supposed new normal

There has been a pretty thorough investigation of the mask manufacturing supply chain at 3M and the whole notion of made in China is bogus. They are made in South Dakota and Nebraska and the facilities are currently ramping up production massively. Raw materials are also sourced in local markets. They are producing 35 Million per month here in the U.S. and are working to double that.

I've seen some of the Asian e-gamers with cool patterns or logos on their masks. Maybe we can get some beveled block Ts for future football games.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-03-25/3m-doubled-production-of-n95-face-masks-to-fight-coronavirus

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3M had another built-in advantage: Unlike many companies that have moved production to low-cost countries, it sources the materials for its respirators near its assembly plants and serves customers reasonably close by. "We make respirators in China for the China market, we make respirators in Korea for a little more than the Korea market," Roman says. Each plant can ship respirators anywherepretty important in a pandemicbut day to day, a plant doesn't rely on distant vendors subject to tariffs or export bans.

In the U.S., the facility at Aberdeen, a city of 28,000, was built in 1974. The 450,000-square-foot factory and a sister plant in Omaha together produce 400 million respirators of myriad types annually. Within the next year, they will be producing many more.

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I agree on the benefits of wearing masks but I should clarify, Japan isn't doing business as usual, although they aren't exactly locked down either. They closed down schools for a month, asked Japanese companies to allow people who could work from home to work from home, and restricted visitors. I work for a Japanese company.

Harder to touch your mouth or nose when it's covered

it's tautological

the CDC and the WHO says sick people should wear masks

there's a ton of sick people who don't recognize themselves as being sick, especially early on

and it turns out you're really contagious then

so wearing a mask is critical to protecting others in case you get the bug and don't know it

two things:

if you don't have the bug, it generally keeps you from touching your face which is good

if you do have the bug (and especially if you're asymptomatic or early in the incubation but still shedding), it protects people around you

it's become increasingly clear to me that the reason they told us not to wear masks is because we had a shortage for the people who needed them most

but we don't need the good stuff to do our part

DIY mask made out of a vacuum cleaner bag >>>>> nothing at all

I was thinking about this earlier. So, the surgical masks are not real effective at preventing you from contracting Covid, but apparently pretty effective at stopping carriers of the virus from transmitting it to others.

With such a huge number of asymptomatic carriers out there, it would seem everyone wearing masks would put a solid dent in the transmission rate.

That seems like such an obvious thing we are missing. Of course, availability is very problematic.

because there's a shortage of ones you can buy

here's pretty much THE expert if you need someone other than a Texags rando

cone said:

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two things:

if you don't have the bug, it generally keeps you from touching your face which is good

if you do have the bug (and especially if you're asymptomatic or early in the incubation but still shedding), it protects people around you

it's become increasingly clear to me that the reason they told us not to wear masks is because we had a shortage for the people who needed them most

but we don't need the good stuff to do our part

DIY mask made out of a vacuum cleaner bag >>>>> nothing at all

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Actually, inexperienced users tend to touch their face a lot to fiddle with or adjust their mask.

Over time as people get use to wearing them, it would at least be a reminder when you try to scratch your nose and hit the mask instead.

I'll wear a mask during a pandemic.

Actually, I'll only wear a mask when near other people. Im requiring my guys to wear something over their nose and mouth on my jobsites.


But, i will not wear a mask during anything but an actual pandemic such as this.

Same thing with hand shaking. I'll refrain from it during a pandemic, but will continue once this has passed.

One downside to the bandanna idea:

"Yeah, I was wearing my bandanna the other day when I walked into my bank to make a withdrawal..."