5 ms·

Yea this is really frustrating. I bought a box of 10 N-95s in January when I saw what was going on in China and figured they’d be good to have, since I have old

Yea this is really frustrating. I bought a box of 10 N-95s in January when I saw what was going on in China and figured they’d be good to have, since I have older people in my family who are in poor health (leukemia, diabetes, heart disease). Now since I’m shopping and cooking for them, I am trying really hard not to get sick so I wear a mask to the stores and I’m getting looks from people like I stole them from a hospital. How about we blame the government for not ramping up production of masks back in January when even I knew this was going to be a problem?

OJFord 7y ago
> Now since I’m shopping and cooking for them, I am trying really hard not to get sick so I wear a mask to the stores and I’m getting looks from people like I stole them from a hospital. I have an N99 (actually FFP3, a pretty much equivalent European standard I gather) from some DIY work a year or so ago; I haven't been out in some time, but when I did I didn't wear it for the same reason. It will be interesting to see what happens to production, and commercial & residential stockpiles when we do get back to something resembling normality. I suspect there'll be a marked increase in non-Asian* routine mask-wearers on public transport, for example. (* it was a lot more common among that group anyway, so I'm not so sure in my speculation that it would increase so much.)
- MiroF 7y ago
  This will probably hit us culturally the way SARS hit east Asia in the early aughts. The good news is that we likely won't be caught completely flat footed against a pandemic again.
  - catalogia 7y ago
    Unfortunately many authorities are trying to stamp out public mask culture in the west before it even has a chance to properly develop. I think this is penny wise, pound foolish. It's short term thinking that optimizes for the present at the expense of the future.
    - 1996 7y ago
      > many authorities are trying to stamp out public mask culture in the west They can't let people wear mask, as it make public tracking by camera/video/etc. less efficient. So governments will not hesitate to say "masks are ineffective", even during a viral pandemic, even while trying to build their own stocks. Oh, what irony!
IggleSniggle 7y ago
It's quite possible that people think you are wearing a mask because they think YOU are sick, as that is the mask's primary effect (preventing you from spreading your disease to others)
- wool_gather 7y ago
  The primary purpose of a filtering mask [is to protect the wearer][0]. They coincidentally protect the environment, too, [unless of course they have a built-in check valve][1] that passes unfiltered air out of the mask. [0]:https://ohsonline.com/articles/2014/05/01/comparison-respiratory.aspx https://ohsonline.com/articles/2014/05/01/comparison-respira... [1]:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008MCV1HY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008MCV1HY&linkCode=as2&tag=ohs19-20&linkId=c80249fb63f2d7ef9790a4467e33e163 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008MCV1HY/ref=as_li_tl?ie...
  - IggleSniggle 7y ago
    Your first citation calls out a difference between "masks" (which protect the environment) and "respirators" (which protect the western and environment) and are the N95 discussed on this thread. Thanks for helping to clarify the differences.
mlthoughts2018 7y ago
You did the right thing, don’t let anyone pressure you to feel otherwise. Retail stocks of masks for things like painting or carpentry are not at all related to depriving medical supplies. Also for N95 masks, the filter size is about 3x wider than the size of coronavirus. Meaning it provides _a lot_ of protection. It’s not a way to fully prevent anything, but a door only 3x wide lets in way way way fewer things than not even having a wall or door at all.
- RotaryTelephone 7y ago
  I think you mean 1/3rd as wide... 3x means a door that's three times bigger than a regular door. X means multiply.
  - eshyong 7y ago
    Don't think so. GP acknowledges that it'll still let the virus in, but at a lower rate than someone without a mask at all.
  - takeda 7y ago
    3x sounds more likely than x1/3. The thing is that even if it is bigger than virus it still stops part of it. Especially if it is true that virus is is not airborne and spreads through droplets. In that case even scarf might be better than nothing (you should wash it often though).
  - mlthoughts2018 7y ago
    I meant 3x. Coronavirus can go through N95 filter size, but just as mention in the link below, that’s still better than not using it. For certain situations, like needing to go out for errands and then be near the elderly, it’s smart to have it and makes sense for individuals to buy the retail stock. https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-interview-larry-brilliant-smallpox-epidemiologist/#intcid=recommendations_wired-homepage-right-rail-popular_d00a3648-f912-49b3-9b8a-f82ade2ecbd5_popular4-1 https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-interview-larry-bril...
reddog 7y ago
>How about we blame the government for not ramping up production of masks back in January or not having a strategic reserve of masks, gloves and suits in a giant warehouse somewhere. You could rotate the stock though the marketplace during safe times so it would cost little. Probably less than the CDCs $110 million dollar visitors center. What kind of pandemic was the government preparing for? One that did not need n95 masks and disposable gloves? One that wouldn't see a shortage of PPE?
- mindslight 7y ago
  > What kind of pandemic was the government preparing for? One that did not need n95 masks and disposable gloves? One that wouldn't see a shortage of PPE? Some "bioterrorism" spectacle that would be localized to a small area, requiring only a small supply sold by a politically-connected middleman, who could mark up the price 30x while having no difficulty sourcing the modest quantity from a commercial supplier.
- greeneggs 7y ago
  The US government does have such a stockpile. > The Department of Health and Human Services said last week that the stockpile has about 12 million N95 respirators and 30 million surgical masks —a scant 1 percent of the estimated 3.5 billion masks the nation would need in a severe pandemic. Another 5 million N95 masks in the stockpile are expired. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/face-masks-in-national-stockpile-have-not-been-substantially-replenished-since-2009/2020/03/10/57e57316-60c9-11ea-8baf-519cedb6ccd9_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/face-masks-in-... The article goes into a lot more detail, including what the stockpile includes, funding, and information about state stockpiles.
m4rtink 7y ago
What needs to happen is making mask wearing mandatory for anyone in the public. If both parties have a mask, even just made at home from a piece of cloth or even a scarf, the risk of one party infecting the other goes way down, even without sophisticated respirators being used.

OJFord 7y ago

> Now since I’m shopping and cooking for them, I am trying really hard not to get sick so I wear a mask to the stores and I’m getting looks from people like I stole them from a hospital. I have an N99 (actually FFP3, a pretty much equivalent European standard I gather) from some DIY work a year or so ago; I haven't been out in some time, but when I did I didn't wear it for the same reason. It will be interesting to see what happens to production, and commercial & residential stockpiles when we do get back to something resembling normality. I suspect there'll be a marked increase in non-Asian* routine mask-wearers on public transport, for example. (* it was a lot more common among that group anyway, so I'm not so sure in my speculation that it would increase so much.)

MiroF 7y ago
This will probably hit us culturally the way SARS hit east Asia in the early aughts. The good news is that we likely won't be caught completely flat footed against a pandemic again.
- catalogia 7y ago
  Unfortunately many authorities are trying to stamp out public mask culture in the west before it even has a chance to properly develop. I think this is penny wise, pound foolish. It's short term thinking that optimizes for the present at the expense of the future.
  - 1996 7y ago
    > many authorities are trying to stamp out public mask culture in the west They can't let people wear mask, as it make public tracking by camera/video/etc. less efficient. So governments will not hesitate to say "masks are ineffective", even during a viral pandemic, even while trying to build their own stocks. Oh, what irony!

IggleSniggle 7y ago

It's quite possible that people think you are wearing a mask because they think YOU are sick, as that is the mask's primary effect (preventing you from spreading your disease to others)

wool_gather 7y ago
The primary purpose of a filtering mask [is to protect the wearer][0]. They coincidentally protect the environment, too, [unless of course they have a built-in check valve][1] that passes unfiltered air out of the mask. [0]:https://ohsonline.com/articles/2014/05/01/comparison-respiratory.aspx https://ohsonline.com/articles/2014/05/01/comparison-respira... [1]:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008MCV1HY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008MCV1HY&linkCode=as2&tag=ohs19-20&linkId=c80249fb63f2d7ef9790a4467e33e163 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008MCV1HY/ref=as_li_tl?ie...
- IggleSniggle 7y ago
  Your first citation calls out a difference between "masks" (which protect the environment) and "respirators" (which protect the western and environment) and are the N95 discussed on this thread. Thanks for helping to clarify the differences.

mlthoughts2018 7y ago

You did the right thing, don’t let anyone pressure you to feel otherwise. Retail stocks of masks for things like painting or carpentry are not at all related to depriving medical supplies. Also for N95 masks, the filter size is about 3x wider than the size of coronavirus. Meaning it provides _a lot_ of protection. It’s not a way to fully prevent anything, but a door only 3x wide lets in way way way fewer things than not even having a wall or door at all.

RotaryTelephone 7y ago
I think you mean 1/3rd as wide... 3x means a door that's three times bigger than a regular door. X means multiply.
- eshyong 7y ago
  Don't think so. GP acknowledges that it'll still let the virus in, but at a lower rate than someone without a mask at all.
- takeda 7y ago
  3x sounds more likely than x1/3. The thing is that even if it is bigger than virus it still stops part of it. Especially if it is true that virus is is not airborne and spreads through droplets. In that case even scarf might be better than nothing (you should wash it often though).
- mlthoughts2018 7y ago
  I meant 3x. Coronavirus can go through N95 filter size, but just as mention in the link below, that’s still better than not using it. For certain situations, like needing to go out for errands and then be near the elderly, it’s smart to have it and makes sense for individuals to buy the retail stock. https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-interview-larry-brilliant-smallpox-epidemiologist/#intcid=recommendations_wired-homepage-right-rail-popular_d00a3648-f912-49b3-9b8a-f82ade2ecbd5_popular4-1 https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-interview-larry-bril...

reddog 7y ago

>How about we blame the government for not ramping up production of masks back in January or not having a strategic reserve of masks, gloves and suits in a giant warehouse somewhere. You could rotate the stock though the marketplace during safe times so it would cost little. Probably less than the CDCs $110 million dollar visitors center. What kind of pandemic was the government preparing for? One that did not need n95 masks and disposable gloves? One that wouldn't see a shortage of PPE?

mindslight 7y ago
> What kind of pandemic was the government preparing for? One that did not need n95 masks and disposable gloves? One that wouldn't see a shortage of PPE? Some "bioterrorism" spectacle that would be localized to a small area, requiring only a small supply sold by a politically-connected middleman, who could mark up the price 30x while having no difficulty sourcing the modest quantity from a commercial supplier.
greeneggs 7y ago
The US government does have such a stockpile. > The Department of Health and Human Services said last week that the stockpile has about 12 million N95 respirators and 30 million surgical masks —a scant 1 percent of the estimated 3.5 billion masks the nation would need in a severe pandemic. Another 5 million N95 masks in the stockpile are expired. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/face-masks-in-national-stockpile-have-not-been-substantially-replenished-since-2009/2020/03/10/57e57316-60c9-11ea-8baf-519cedb6ccd9_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/face-masks-in-... The article goes into a lot more detail, including what the stockpile includes, funding, and information about state stockpiles.

m4rtink 7y ago

What needs to happen is making mask wearing mandatory for anyone in the public. If both parties have a mask, even just made at home from a piece of cloth or even a scarf, the risk of one party infecting the other goes way down, even without sophisticated respirators being used.