new thread on covid-19 updates in your location

[Michael]

Just as it reduces spread with medical workers, proper-sealing masks would reduce the spread significantly for the general populace if every single person in a city with one case or more wore a something like an N95 , at all times when going outside or interacting with strangers. We should have had trillions of N95's ready to go at all times, but unfortunately, the Fed can't generate them spontaneously like they can add zero's to a Goldman Sachs account.

[everything]

since that's not going to happen here (well i have been seeing a lot more (mostly non asian) people wearing masks out and about), other than social distance, it's hard to say what to do as an individual. went to the store today and there were some people wearing masks (thanks to them if they are sick) and took forever to sanitize their cart just blocking everyone else who was observing safe distance from entering ... a little bit of inconsideration that is probably just from lack of etiquette and clear thinking from everyone on this - why don't you move in by 6ft so the people behind you can move in and beyond you?

a lot of people I see, OTOH, are thoughtful enough to make space.

[Steve James]

Yeah, right, billions of n95s. There are plenty of n95s in existence, probably one for every person in the country. I feel guilty for having two. I used one years ago when I was doing some woodwork. I gave one to a paranoid friend at the beginning of this outbreak. Ah, interesting side story. He actually caught the virus from someone in his building. He wore the mask every day, thinking he wouldn't contract the virus. Oops. If you touch the mask when you take it off, you put any virus you've encountered onto your hands. He became more paranoid; so, he began rinsing his mask in a mild bleach solution every day. Then, he wrote me and said that while washing his mask he noticed that the little flap on his mask closed when he inhaled, but opened when he exhaled. Iow, it didn't stop him completely from breathing out virus particles. All it did was limit the amount drastically, not eliminate it. So, as I said, he came down with the virus and found out because his sister is a doctor.

That leaves me with two: one for myself and one for my grandson. I feel a bit guilty for having them, but I bought the set ten years ago. Like I said, if you're sick, it's best not to go out at all. Right now. The need is for millions of masks because of the number of patients, and the fact that a mask should be used for each patient and discarded. If people want to get masks after the crisis for themselves, that makes and has always made sense to me. Right now, every civilian wearing a mask takes one away from someone who really needs it. A civilian would need at least one for every day the crisis lasts.

Isolation works better than any mask. Do you have an n95 of your own? If you use it, and it comes in contact with the virus, don't bring it back inside. Toss it and put on another one tomorrow, if you want to be safe. See what I mean?

[everything]

I can't remember if we posted about this study.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24229526
It looked at homemade masks for flu virus contact prevention. The best kind of mask was double layered kitchen towels. As effective as real equipment. However it was too hard to breathe through. The conclusion was t-shirt material was the best combo of breathability and some partial protection.

I happen to still have an n95 construction mask due to some yard work during pollen season from a few years ago. not wearing it. probably will not, mainly based on the reasons and case you cited.

[Michael]

Okay, we shoulda had tens of trillions of masks strategically stockpiled around the country. The viral outbreak films from just the past 40 years should have taught us that much. That's probably for the other thread, tho.

And yes, I know what you're saying about contamination when you use the mask. That pressure gradient of micro particles is always pushing when you try to create a "clean"space, pretty much like gravity pulling.

I'm not telling anyone to go buy masks and I did not buy one for myself when I saw this coming because the shortage was already obvious. Anyway, every little bitty 20 square meter shop in China that used to made women's undies last year and can call itself a factory has been churning out fakes and buying fake certs off taobao for weeks.

[Steve James]

There are better masks than n95s. They use replaceable filters. The problem is that they're bulky.

If you can find a material that has a weave leaving spaces of 95 nanometers or less (iinm), it'll work just like an n95. The problem is that commercial fabrics don't have gaps that small.

Btw, since you have one n95. Save it for the a biological attack or severe smoke conditions. But, if you want to use it, put your t-shirt material --or some fabric with the tightest weave possible-- over it when you go outside. Discard the fabric when you get home. Fwiw, that's what some doctors here are doing in between patients.

Here's some info about them.

Are N95 Masks Really Effective against the flu?
A little online research will reveal that the flu virus is .17 microns in size. Clearly smaller than even N100 masks can filter out. However, it is critical to understand that the flu virus does not float in the air by itself. The flu virus is transported from patient to patient on droplets of excretions from sneezing and coughing. These particles are typically 5 microns or larger. When a sick patient wears a respirator, the respirator can be very effective at preventing infectious material from leaving the patients body, and when worn by healthy individuals, it prevents inhalation of said material. More importantly, wearing a mask is a excellent way of preventing the user from rubbing or touching their mouth or nose, which is a very high risk factor. At the end of the day will an N95 mask guarantee to protect you from the Flu? No. But it can substantially reduce your risk or receiving or transmitting the disease.

When do Dust Masks/Filters wear out?
In general, dust masks and filters should be discarded after each "encounter" or "procedure". The risk of contamination can also be heightened by removing and applying the mask multiple times. In general, once removed, the Dust Mask should be disposed of. Additionally, proper hand hygiene should be observed when touching a potentially contaminated mask. Further concern should be given to cross-contamination when wearing masks into different rooms or areas. Regardless of usage, masks should be discarded when used beyond 8 hours, and careful review and testing should be performed in regards to hazardous chemicals/particles.

https://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/re ... rence.html

Yeah, you can order from that site. Some people hoard them, when the fact is that how many they need will depend on completely different factors. If people have parties and idiots lick products in stores to spread the disease, it will spread. Older people, in fact, seem to be abiding by the suggested restrictions more so than younger ones. I stay away from my 22 year old grandson. I do not expect that he will wash his hands. I know that asking him to do so would be meaningless if he didn't understand why, and do it on his own. So, I just assume that he has it, and I keep clear in my room. No problem. If he gets sick, he better phone mama.

[Michael]

[Steve James]

They weren't wearing masks in China?

[Michael]

China mask wearing is for air pollution. It's not for "cleanliness" the way that scientific medicine defines it.

Also, the hotspot epicenter in Wuhan created numbers that don't fit into that chart.

Also, China's published numbers are complete rubbish.

EDIT: Getting late for me, not the best writing there, hope it makes some sense.

[Steve James]

Ok, I was just reading the graph. I have no idea how the masks in China differ from those in S. Korea and Japan. The countries that report the best success have used relatively the same methods. One of them is the social monitoring that allows carrier tracing. The reasons that China's numbers are different might have to do with many other factors than just mask wearing.

I repeat. Healthy people wearing masks around sick people wearing masks will still yield more cases than people without masks self-isolating. Limit spread and the virus will die. Now that it's possibly endemic, it might come around every year, or even not go away when it gets warm.

Finally, it masks will stop the spread, make it a law that you have to have one on outside. Just don't tell everyone it's ok to congregate at events, festivals, bars, clubs or on the beach because they have on masks. Sorry. Though I do see how that would be an attractive option to people who want to socialize. Masks are kind of like prophylactics (for the mouth and nose). You know how that goes.

[Michael]

Healthy people wearing masks around sick people wearing masks will still yield more cases than people without masks self-isolating.

Good point.

[grzegorz]

Just as it reduces spread with medical workers, proper-sealing masks would reduce the spread significantly for the general populace if every single person in a city with one case or more wore a something like an N95 , at all times when going outside or interacting with strangers. We should have had trillions of N95's ready to go at all times, but unfortunately, the Fed can't generate them spontaneously like they can add zero's to a Goldman Sachs account.

Taiwan did so we could too but we lack leadership. Supposedly we have millions of mask available but that too was a lie but at least some factories started making ventilators under government orders. I think Tesla did it without government orders working with and in California. Thanks Elon!

Worth noting that Korea had their first confirmed case the same time the US did.

Seems obvious to me that Trump's concern is for the economy so he can win re-election being that the economy is not going to improve until this all ends it seems he is relying on the illusion that he is doing all he and some are buying into it.

I knew that Quarantining New York wasn't going to happen. It was just another reality TV moment go get everyone to anticipate his next move but some will buy it and I do give him credit for possibly actually considering it versus everything opening up in time for Easter.

Speaking of which. Here's a fun rant.

Watch "Trump Wants The Country Opened By Easter" on YouTube

https://youtu.be/uC7vvt_qbTk

(Again this is not really about Trump but he is the one who had the power to stop this yet he didn't.)

[Steve James]

Long story below: the short story is that two weeks ago, the numbers were.

Total cases: 1,629 (March 14)
Total deaths: 41

Total cases: *124,686 (March 28) Sunday
Total deaths: *2,191

In two weeks, it will be mid April. What do you think the numbers will be then? Oh, I know. People had opinions two weeks ago. How'd they work out? Is this what you expected?



COVID-19: U.S. at a Glance* From Saturday (2/14/20) to today
Total cases: 1,629
Total deaths: 41
Jurisdictions reporting cases: 47 (46 states and District of Columbia)

Total cases: 3,487 Monday
Total deaths: 68
Jurisdictions reporting cases: 53 (49 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and US Virgin Islands)

Total cases: 4,226 Tuesday
Total deaths: 75

Total cases: 7,038 Wednesday
Total deaths: 97

Total cases: 10,442 Thursday
Total deaths: 150

Total cases: 15,219 Friday
Total deaths: 201

Total cases: 33,404 Monday (2/23/20)
Total deaths: 400

Total cases: 44,183 Tuesday
Total deaths: 544
Jurisdictions reporting cases: 54 (50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and US Virgin Islands)

Total cases: *55,234 Wednesday *from Johns Hopkins because the CDC site updates very late
Total deaths: *802

Total Cases: *69,197 Thursday *
Total deaths: *1046

Total cases: *86,012 Friday
Total deaths: *1,300

Total cases: *104,837 Saturday
Total deaths: *1,711

Total cases: *124,686 Sunday
Total deaths: *2,191 1.75%

[Michael]

Anyway, every little bitty 20 square meter shop in China that used to made women's undies last year and can call itself a factory has been churning out fakes and buying fake certs off taobao for weeks.

600,000 masks imported by The Netherlands from China were just recalled.

The Netherlands has actually ordered 1.3 million Chinese masks and the HALF were useless.

“Several doctors closely involved in fighting the corona outbreak are concerned about the spread of unsafe protective equipment across the country.”

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1243983975351271425



https://nos.nl/artikel/2328673-honderdduizenden-chinese-mondmaskers-teruggeroepen-uit-nederlandse-ziekenhuizen.html

[Steve James]

Hey Mike, fwiw though I can't read the labels on the masks in the picture clearly, they are not n95s. All non-n95s would be unfit. Good thing it was caught. Of course, if all the masks that China has sent everywhere have to be checked, they need a new source.

Remember what you said about how many masks we should have?