6 ms·

With face masks, the people who need them and the people who have lots of money are not the same group of people

by skipnup 6y ago

tupputuppu 6y ago
Face masks cost 20 cents per mask. I'm sorry but this is a topic you can't just make to be about income inequality
- kevingadd 6y ago
  N95 masks are currently at least $2 USD/mask on Home Depot's website, and they've never been cheaper than that when I've bought some. Who's your supplier for this budget PPE? Medical workers and the immuno-compromised would love to buy from them.
  - daniellarusso 6y ago
    Where are you finding these $2 n95 masks in stock? I have been unable to purchase them from Home Depot or Lowes. The most recent price I have seen is $5 per mask in a twenty pack. The highest I have seen so far this year, was $18 per mask.
  - kube-system 6y ago
    Do you have a link? I'd love to buy some, but when I apply the n95 filter, all 12 results are out of stock.
barumi 6y ago
You're talking about supply shortages as if it was a permanent thing. If after all these months you're still seeing a shortage in face masks then I regret to inform you that your market is not free, nor is your economy operating accordig to basic capitalism principles.
- ClumsyPilot 6y ago
  'capitalism principles' are not a religious teaching, lets discuss facts on the ground For N95 respirators you need meltblown, a material that most countries do not produce, and the equipment to make it has lead time of a year in mormal times. Masks that are now filling shelves are, for the most park, just BS. They are not actual respirators.
  - def_true_false 6y ago
    Do you imagine the meltblown production lines come from fairy land or something? They are subject to the exact same market forces as the masks. IDK about the US, but in Europe the supply of masks and respirators is now sufficient (and has been for months). From what I've seen, the countries that did limit the prices ended up having worse shortages than the ones who didn't, big surprise... /s If you suspect that a retailer is selling masks or respirators that aren't compliant with the relevant regulation, perhaps you should report that somewhere.
    - ClumsyPilot 6y ago
      "a retailer is selling masks or respirators that aren't compliant" You misunderstand - the medical staff must be supplied with proper equipment. The general public just has to wear a mask, there is no requirements that it performs to any particular standard, and the retailers are not claiming they do. The masks worn by the the public contain no meltblown, they are just random cloth fabric and they perform nothing like the proper respirator does. The point I was making is that you can't point at the random masks that appeared on the shelves as evidence that supply of respirators has been fixed - there are still not enough respirators to supply every Tom, Dick and Harry.
      - def_true_false 6y ago
        > The masks worn by the the public contain no meltblown There are actual respirators available through retail and online channels and they do contain meltblown, e.g. 3M 6200 with 3M 2135 filters. Most people won't need single use PPE, and most people won't need respirators, which is why they are available. Regular masks are not BS, they are source control. Considering that significant number of transmissions occurs before symptom onset, everyone should wear one when interacting with strangers. It's one of the cheapest pandemic control measures available.

With face masks, the people who need them and the people who have lots of money are not the same group of people

tupputuppu 6y ago

Face masks cost 20 cents per mask. I'm sorry but this is a topic you can't just make to be about income inequality

kevingadd 6y ago
N95 masks are currently at least $2 USD/mask on Home Depot's website, and they've never been cheaper than that when I've bought some. Who's your supplier for this budget PPE? Medical workers and the immuno-compromised would love to buy from them.
- daniellarusso 6y ago
  Where are you finding these $2 n95 masks in stock? I have been unable to purchase them from Home Depot or Lowes. The most recent price I have seen is $5 per mask in a twenty pack. The highest I have seen so far this year, was $18 per mask.
- kube-system 6y ago
  Do you have a link? I'd love to buy some, but when I apply the n95 filter, all 12 results are out of stock.

barumi 6y ago

You're talking about supply shortages as if it was a permanent thing. If after all these months you're still seeing a shortage in face masks then I regret to inform you that your market is not free, nor is your economy operating accordig to basic capitalism principles.

ClumsyPilot 6y ago
'capitalism principles' are not a religious teaching, lets discuss facts on the ground For N95 respirators you need meltblown, a material that most countries do not produce, and the equipment to make it has lead time of a year in mormal times. Masks that are now filling shelves are, for the most park, just BS. They are not actual respirators.
- def_true_false 6y ago
  Do you imagine the meltblown production lines come from fairy land or something? They are subject to the exact same market forces as the masks. IDK about the US, but in Europe the supply of masks and respirators is now sufficient (and has been for months). From what I've seen, the countries that did limit the prices ended up having worse shortages than the ones who didn't, big surprise... /s If you suspect that a retailer is selling masks or respirators that aren't compliant with the relevant regulation, perhaps you should report that somewhere.
  - ClumsyPilot 6y ago
    "a retailer is selling masks or respirators that aren't compliant" You misunderstand - the medical staff must be supplied with proper equipment. The general public just has to wear a mask, there is no requirements that it performs to any particular standard, and the retailers are not claiming they do. The masks worn by the the public contain no meltblown, they are just random cloth fabric and they perform nothing like the proper respirator does. The point I was making is that you can't point at the random masks that appeared on the shelves as evidence that supply of respirators has been fixed - there are still not enough respirators to supply every Tom, Dick and Harry.
    - def_true_false 6y ago
      > The masks worn by the the public contain no meltblown There are actual respirators available through retail and online channels and they do contain meltblown, e.g. 3M 6200 with 3M 2135 filters. Most people won't need single use PPE, and most people won't need respirators, which is why they are available. Regular masks are not BS, they are source control. Considering that significant number of transmissions occurs before symptom onset, everyone should wear one when interacting with strangers. It's one of the cheapest pandemic control measures available.