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The CDC has no credibility. Here's some real advice: 1. Don't go out unless absolutely necessary. 2. If you go out, wear the highest specification mask avail
by cameldrv 7y ago
The CDC has no credibility. Here's some real advice:
1. Don't go out unless absolutely necessary.
2. If you go out, wear the highest specification mask available to you.
3. If you go out, wear the best eye covering available to you. Sealed goggles are ideal, but even a pair of sunglasses will provide protection.
4. If you have to improvise a mask, try to use a filter material better than cotton. Some ideas: Vacuum Bags, HEPA filters, Furnace Filters, Car Cabin Air Filters. Try to make a mask that seals well against your face.
5. If you have extra masks, donate them. You may want to wait to donate them until hospitals start routinely disinfecting and reusing their PPE, because otherwise the masks you donate may get used once and thrown out. Masks donated later may make more of a difference.
Do not feel shame about wearing a medical mask out. The most useless mask is the one that sits on a shelf while its owner is outside getting infected or spreading infection. You are not denying a healthcare worker a mask by wearing one. You are being responsible and not getting infected. If you don't infected, you don't go to the hospital and infect a healthcare worker. If you don't get infected, you don't spread the virus to anyone else, and they don't go to the hospital either.
Look in your garage. Many people have a few masks left over from painting or sanding or wildfires.
- robocat 7y ago> donate them I’m predicting that if you want to donate, you should donate directly to front line workers, since a hospital wouldn’t use masks of unknown origin, and I’d be concerned about thefts and scams from charities. Anyone who really needs them will just accept a donation gratefully, and can share with others on front line.
- csnover 7y ago> a hospital wouldn’t use masks of unknown origin There are multiple PPE donation drives going on right now, and these supplies do go to hospitals and other health care workers. I don’t know why you think hospitals won’t use these masks; they will soon have nothing else to use. https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2020/4/2/21205935/cook-donations-masks-protective-equipment-ppe-preckwinkle-coronavirus https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2020/4/2/21205935/cook... https://www.milb.com/news/ppe-donation-drive-set-for-april-4-5-at-frawley-stadium https://www.milb.com/news/ppe-donation-drive-set-for-april-4... https://mnnurses.org/minnesota-nurses-asking-for-public-to-donate-covid-19-protective-masks/ https://mnnurses.org/minnesota-nurses-asking-for-public-to-d... https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/woodlands-to-start-help-our-heroes-ppe-donation-program-amid-coronavirus/ar-BB128Cn6 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/woodlands-to-start-help-ou... https://denver.cbslocal.com/video/4496510-ppe-donation-drives-aim-to-help-colorado-springs-medical-workers/ https://denver.cbslocal.com/video/4496510-ppe-donation-drive...
- justusthane 7y agoAnd here’s one hospital that is accepting homemade masks directly: https://www.reidhealth.org/making-masks https://www.reidhealth.org/making-masks I’m sure there are others.
- timr 7y agoDo not wear medical-grade masks, folks. Every mask you wear is taking an essential piece of equipment from someone who both knows how to use it, and desperately needs it. I can tell you that I see lots of people walking around the streets of my city with medical grade masks, worn improperly. Even if they are wearing them properly, I routinely see people pull the mask down with their bare hands to talk, use the phone, etc. Those masks are wasted. As someone who has spent years working in a lab environment: you don't know how to wear a mask. You don't. It won't protect you. This guidance here is explicit that the reason they're asking people to wear masks is to protect other people. You can do that with a t-shirt wrapped around your face.
- cameldrv 7y agoThis is yet more propaganda. If you want to know how to wear a medical mask, you can find out on YouTube. It's not rocket science. Yes, without a professional fit test, you may not get an absolutely perfect seal, but you can do a quick pressure check by exhaling and feeling whether the mask is holding pressure. If you do this pressure check you will be getting very substantial protection from the mask. You wearing a mask is not taking anything away from anyone. It is rational protection. Many people have (non medical, but N95 or similar) masks sitting in their garage. Those masks are not doing anyone any good sitting around. If you have masks and are going out not wearing them, you are putting healthcare workers lives at risk, because you could be spreading or contracting the virus. You or someone else will then go to the hospital and potentially infect a healthcare worker. The best way to protect that healthcare worker is not to give them a mask, it's not to expose them in the first place. If you want to donate them, that's a great thing, but the main thing is that masks should be worn, not gathering dust. If everyone had been wearing masks for the past month, we wouldn't be in this situation. Let's not perpetuate the nonsense.
- timr 7y ago"This is yet more propaganda." Exactly who am I propagandizing? Doctors? "You wearing a mask is not taking anything away from anyone." We have a mask shortage in hospitals. You are literally taking masks from people who need them more. "It is rational protection." For the medical professionals who need them, yes. For you, it's overkill. "Many people have (non medical, but N95 or similar) masks sitting in their garage." They should be donating those to hospitals, ASAP. *"The best way to protect that healthcare worker is not to give them a mask, it's not to expose them in the first place." The best way to protect health care workers who do not have masks, today, is to give them masks. The second best way is to stay home. The third best way is to wash your hands. The fourth best way is to not touch your face. Way, way down the list is "wear a mask", and like the guidelines say, not a medical one.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- amluto 7y ago> 2. If you go out, wear the highest specification mask available to you. Is your goal to protect yourself or to protect others? If the latter, the fancy N95 or P100 masks with exhalation vents are of highly dubious value.
- sjg007 7y agoFurnace and cabin filters are probably not worth it.
- cameldrv 7y agoDepends on the spec of the filter and the size of the droplets. Both of those will filter a lot better than woven cotton.
- fxj 7y agoAdditional advice is: 6. Do not shake hands or otherwise touch anyone around you. 7. Keep a distance of at least 1 meter (2m ist better) 8. Do not touch your face, your eyes or your nose even when they are itchy. 9. Use your brain to foresee situations where you can be infected. 10. Don't use public transport and don't sit near anyone closer than 2 meters. 11. Wear gloves (any kind, skiing gloves are fine too) 12. Get desinfection gel after a possible contamination situation and wash your hands when you come home. 13. Do not enter your PIN codes with bare hands 14. Don't use cash! No coins in your pockets. 15. Don't share your mobile phone. Keep it to yourself. 16. Don't share your earbuds.