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Doesn't seem like there are enough masks for this either though. The US is going to need literally billions of masks that are distributed to the population. Ar

by Taek 7y ago

Doesn't seem like there are enough masks for this either though. The US is going to need literally billions of masks that are distributed to the population. Are we doing everything we can to ramp up production as fast as possible?

gameswithgo 7y ago
even home mad masks are effective.
- goldenkey 7y ago
  No. Even N95 is even a joke considering the airborne contagiousness of covid19. N95 literally means non-oil-resistant, 95% filtration efficiency. I'll continue to wear my P100 safety mask while the lazy minded cling to the word N95 like it is some panacea or bastion of protection, whilst being statistically trashgutter. Most people have no idea what N95 even means, treating it like some model number. I'm pretty sure that the seal on a mask that secures like a party hat is not good enough when an airborne contaminant is in play.. Let's all just keep using rubber band party hat masks while the intelligent among us sport the P100 eliteness. /s https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/factsheets/respsars.html https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/factsheet... https://i.imgur.com/cPTZf6h.png https://i.imgur.com/cPTZf6h.png
- throwaway55554 7y ago
  Effective at what?
  - gameswithgo 7y ago
    reducing the chance you will spread the virus to others and to a lesser degree reducing the chance you get it yourself.
Animats 7y ago
No. One company that makes masks says they're not expanding production. The last time they did, as soon as the crisis was over the hospitals started ordering from China again. They had a huge stock of unsold masks, and almost went bankrupt even after layoffs. That's the free market.
- munk-a 7y ago
  This is where the US government could step in. The federal government should mandate a certain level of production and guarantee purchase of those masks, if folks abuse these bids we should pursue them hard in court like we did in WWII... I mean, if the courts are going to actually hold folks to account, that's the big question.
  - Animats 7y ago
    The U.S. Army does that for ammo, with big government-owned munitions plants. Many production lines are mothballed, but can be started up if needed. There's little demand for artillery projectiles in peacetime, and a huge demand in wartime.
- throwaway894345 7y ago
  The free market is also 3M realizing after the SARS outbreak in 2003 that something like this might happen again, and building surge capacity into its manufacturing plants. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-03-25/3m-doubled-production-of-n95-face-masks-to-fight-coronavirus https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-03-25/3m-double... Unfortunately, the CDC learned no such lesson and continued to operate as though no widespread contagious disease could possibly break out on US soil, as they had virtually no stockpile of masks nor even plans to secure the mask supply chain, etc (not to mention their testing strategy only scaled to hundreds of cases per day). I suppose that's the unitary state. Of course, the CDC should have a serious reserve of masks (and other general equipment for the most likely outbreaks) and plans to secure the supply chain, including partnering with private industry to make sure they can operate at an increased capacity in case of emergency. There's no fundamental reason that our federal agencies have to be incompetent with respect to their fundamental purpose.
  - nradov 7y ago
    True enough, but the CDC discretionary budget was tiny. In order to establish a significant stockpile they would have needed a budget line item from Congress. So Congress certainly deserves a portion of the blame for lack of foresight.

by Taek 7y ago

gameswithgo 7y ago

even home mad masks are effective.

goldenkey 7y ago
No. Even N95 is even a joke considering the airborne contagiousness of covid19. N95 literally means non-oil-resistant, 95% filtration efficiency. I'll continue to wear my P100 safety mask while the lazy minded cling to the word N95 like it is some panacea or bastion of protection, whilst being statistically trashgutter. Most people have no idea what N95 even means, treating it like some model number. I'm pretty sure that the seal on a mask that secures like a party hat is not good enough when an airborne contaminant is in play.. Let's all just keep using rubber band party hat masks while the intelligent among us sport the P100 eliteness. /s https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/factsheets/respsars.html https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/factsheet... https://i.imgur.com/cPTZf6h.png https://i.imgur.com/cPTZf6h.png
throwaway55554 7y ago
Effective at what?
- gameswithgo 7y ago
  reducing the chance you will spread the virus to others and to a lesser degree reducing the chance you get it yourself.

Animats 7y ago

No. One company that makes masks says they're not expanding production. The last time they did, as soon as the crisis was over the hospitals started ordering from China again. They had a huge stock of unsold masks, and almost went bankrupt even after layoffs. That's the free market.

munk-a 7y ago
This is where the US government could step in. The federal government should mandate a certain level of production and guarantee purchase of those masks, if folks abuse these bids we should pursue them hard in court like we did in WWII... I mean, if the courts are going to actually hold folks to account, that's the big question.
- Animats 7y ago
  The U.S. Army does that for ammo, with big government-owned munitions plants. Many production lines are mothballed, but can be started up if needed. There's little demand for artillery projectiles in peacetime, and a huge demand in wartime.
throwaway894345 7y ago
The free market is also 3M realizing after the SARS outbreak in 2003 that something like this might happen again, and building surge capacity into its manufacturing plants. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-03-25/3m-doubled-production-of-n95-face-masks-to-fight-coronavirus https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-03-25/3m-double... Unfortunately, the CDC learned no such lesson and continued to operate as though no widespread contagious disease could possibly break out on US soil, as they had virtually no stockpile of masks nor even plans to secure the mask supply chain, etc (not to mention their testing strategy only scaled to hundreds of cases per day). I suppose that's the unitary state. Of course, the CDC should have a serious reserve of masks (and other general equipment for the most likely outbreaks) and plans to secure the supply chain, including partnering with private industry to make sure they can operate at an increased capacity in case of emergency. There's no fundamental reason that our federal agencies have to be incompetent with respect to their fundamental purpose.
- nradov 7y ago
  True enough, but the CDC discretionary budget was tiny. In order to establish a significant stockpile they would have needed a budget line item from Congress. So Congress certainly deserves a portion of the blame for lack of foresight.