5 ms·

Thank you! I had missed this news, so a link to a support article with no explanation was a little mystifying.

by bloopernova 7y ago

Polylactic_acid 7y ago
I expected this to be for apple factory workers, surprised to see its being sold to other companies.
- stuart78 7y ago
  I believe they are donated to the medical community, not sold.
- irjustin 7y ago
  Donated, not sold: https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/apple-donating-20-million-n95-respirators-manufacturing-face-shields-fight-covid-19.html https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/apple-donating-20-million-n95...
- briandear 7y ago
  They aren’t selling them, they are giving them away.
- simonh 7y ago
  These are only used by doctors and nurses when treating patients with open airways at very close range to protect from direct splatters with body fluids. Eg when intubating a patient that’s having explosive coughing fits. They are also part of a complete protective system including a mask, elasticated hair cover, full body wrap aprons and long arm gloves. There is no point using a shield without the rest if the gear because if you are in a situation where you need the shield, you also need the rest as well. Most medical professionals don’t even wear this full kit routinely in hospitals, let alone when they are out in public, so there’s no need for the public to use them in general working conditions.
  - barry-cotter 7y ago
    > There is no point using a shield without the rest if the gear because if you are in a situation where you need the shield, you also need the rest as well. This is the same class of bullshit the WHO, CDC and FDA were pushing about face masks less than a week ago. There is no way this is worse than nothing. If a face shield used with no other PPE reduces the viral load the average healthcare worker is exposed to by 1% fewer people will be infected and those who do will be more likely to recover as their immune system has more time to ramp up defenses. This will reduce R0. There is no plausible mechanism of action for a face shield to work as PPE together with a respirator, or as part of a full suit of PPE, under which it provides no protection when used alone.
    - youstupidcunt 7y ago
      You literally have not a clue what you're talking about but you think because you now know what R0 that you're a fucking expert. You probably think cycle helmets should be mandatory. TL;DR. you are a dumb over confident cunt who needs to sit down and shut up.
    - masukomi 7y ago
      > There is no way this is worse than nothing. correct. it's not worse than nothing. it's literally not possible to be "worse than nothing". However to your point it only protects against spray. So, yes, it's better than nothing if you're in front of someone coughing / vomiting directly on you. BUT it doesn't do much of anything for the aerosolized particles. Better masks has coverings above the top to prevent those from coming in from above, but in this case apple appears to be going for quantity and speed over quality. > if a face shield used with no other PPE reduces the viral load the average healthcare worker is exposed to by 1% If you are practicing social distancing then a face shield really provides essentially zero protection. I have seen no evidence or even suggestion by a medical professional that wearing these while keeping a distance from infected individuals would provide ANY protection. The main problem is aerosolized material (also direct contact but gloves and not touching your face address that). These don't help with aerosolized material. It just floats around them and gets inhaled anyway. You want these if you are up close to someone who is infected or potentially infected because mouths spew forth bad things: vomit, coughing, etc. and you frequently don't have time to jump out of the way.
futhey 7y ago
They're donating a million face shields by the end of the week to hospitals and medical facilities with the greatest need, and 20m by the end of the month, designed by Apple and sourced via their existing supply chain.
- raverbashing 7y ago
  A writeup of how that was accomplished (because it seems it was a new design, or maybe an adapted design) would be very interesting. Did they adapt an existing cutting tool? New tool? What were those factories making before the pandemic?
  - mch82 7y ago
    Going only off of the video I saw of Tim Cook with the shield... The entire shield is a clear plastic film. It’s held against the forehead using a fabric strap. The shield appears to be either die cut or laser cut, which explains the production speed. A lot of the face shields shown online are 3D printed with hard plastic components, which is a very slow process. The material looks a lot like the clear plastic film that wraps an iPhone or even an iPad charger. The shield folds together in the same origami-like way. Based on comments about the supply chain being involved, it seems like they leveraged the existing manufacturing process for Apple product packaging and thickened the plastic.
    - dmurray 7y ago
      3D printing seems crazy for a single sheet of bendy plastic that needs to be mass produced. Cutting them out by hand with a knife or a scissors would be better than 3d printing, never mind laser or die cutting.
      - Teever 7y ago
        I'm not sure what the person above is talking about. I haven't seen a single face shield design involving a 3d printed piece that didn't also require a sheet of bendy plastic cut to fit with that 3d printed piece.

Thank you! I had missed this news, so a link to a support article with no explanation was a little mystifying.

Polylactic_acid 7y ago

I expected this to be for apple factory workers, surprised to see its being sold to other companies.

stuart78 7y ago
I believe they are donated to the medical community, not sold.
irjustin 7y ago
Donated, not sold: https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/apple-donating-20-million-n95-respirators-manufacturing-face-shields-fight-covid-19.html https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/apple-donating-20-million-n95...
briandear 7y ago
They aren’t selling them, they are giving them away.
simonh 7y ago
These are only used by doctors and nurses when treating patients with open airways at very close range to protect from direct splatters with body fluids. Eg when intubating a patient that’s having explosive coughing fits. They are also part of a complete protective system including a mask, elasticated hair cover, full body wrap aprons and long arm gloves. There is no point using a shield without the rest if the gear because if you are in a situation where you need the shield, you also need the rest as well. Most medical professionals don’t even wear this full kit routinely in hospitals, let alone when they are out in public, so there’s no need for the public to use them in general working conditions.
- barry-cotter 7y ago
  > There is no point using a shield without the rest if the gear because if you are in a situation where you need the shield, you also need the rest as well. This is the same class of bullshit the WHO, CDC and FDA were pushing about face masks less than a week ago. There is no way this is worse than nothing. If a face shield used with no other PPE reduces the viral load the average healthcare worker is exposed to by 1% fewer people will be infected and those who do will be more likely to recover as their immune system has more time to ramp up defenses. This will reduce R0. There is no plausible mechanism of action for a face shield to work as PPE together with a respirator, or as part of a full suit of PPE, under which it provides no protection when used alone.
  - youstupidcunt 7y ago
    You literally have not a clue what you're talking about but you think because you now know what R0 that you're a fucking expert. You probably think cycle helmets should be mandatory. TL;DR. you are a dumb over confident cunt who needs to sit down and shut up.
  - masukomi 7y ago
    > There is no way this is worse than nothing. correct. it's not worse than nothing. it's literally not possible to be "worse than nothing". However to your point it only protects against spray. So, yes, it's better than nothing if you're in front of someone coughing / vomiting directly on you. BUT it doesn't do much of anything for the aerosolized particles. Better masks has coverings above the top to prevent those from coming in from above, but in this case apple appears to be going for quantity and speed over quality. > if a face shield used with no other PPE reduces the viral load the average healthcare worker is exposed to by 1% If you are practicing social distancing then a face shield really provides essentially zero protection. I have seen no evidence or even suggestion by a medical professional that wearing these while keeping a distance from infected individuals would provide ANY protection. The main problem is aerosolized material (also direct contact but gloves and not touching your face address that). These don't help with aerosolized material. It just floats around them and gets inhaled anyway. You want these if you are up close to someone who is infected or potentially infected because mouths spew forth bad things: vomit, coughing, etc. and you frequently don't have time to jump out of the way.

futhey 7y ago

They're donating a million face shields by the end of the week to hospitals and medical facilities with the greatest need, and 20m by the end of the month, designed by Apple and sourced via their existing supply chain.

raverbashing 7y ago
A writeup of how that was accomplished (because it seems it was a new design, or maybe an adapted design) would be very interesting. Did they adapt an existing cutting tool? New tool? What were those factories making before the pandemic?
- mch82 7y ago
  Going only off of the video I saw of Tim Cook with the shield... The entire shield is a clear plastic film. It’s held against the forehead using a fabric strap. The shield appears to be either die cut or laser cut, which explains the production speed. A lot of the face shields shown online are 3D printed with hard plastic components, which is a very slow process. The material looks a lot like the clear plastic film that wraps an iPhone or even an iPad charger. The shield folds together in the same origami-like way. Based on comments about the supply chain being involved, it seems like they leveraged the existing manufacturing process for Apple product packaging and thickened the plastic.
  - dmurray 7y ago
    3D printing seems crazy for a single sheet of bendy plastic that needs to be mass produced. Cutting them out by hand with a knife or a scissors would be better than 3d printing, never mind laser or die cutting.
    - Teever 7y ago
      I'm not sure what the person above is talking about. I haven't seen a single face shield design involving a 3d printed piece that didn't also require a sheet of bendy plastic cut to fit with that 3d printed piece.