Quote:
Originally Posted by dmk08
So is the advice simply to help the supply for those professionals tho wearing a mask could actually be helpful to anyone going out?
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I've worked in national healthcare for 15 years with docs and infectious disease specialists (incl Dr. Osterholm), attempting to prevent and treat chronic and acute conditions; FWIW, here's my 2 cents:
(1.) All masks are effective, some more than others, proper use counts
(2.) Basic masks can be made @ home, even 100% cotton is an effective air filter and easily washable
(3.) For now, prof-grade mask should be donated to HCWs
if you want a more detailed explanation based on what I'm hearing, with a mask, you're trying to do three things:
(a.) Prevent virus-containing droplets or vapor from entering through your eyes, nose, mouth when you breathe, and
(b.) Prevent virus-containing droplets or vapor from landing on you and/or you pick them up from touching something, then you touch your eyes, nose, mouth infecting yourself.
(c.) Prevent infecting others if you're infected, and you might not know if you are (if fact, it's suspected most don't for up to 2 weeks)
Thus, masks - and any washable clothing or barrier - work to do all three. While virus particles themselves are smaller than the openings of, say, even N95 masks themselves, in reality the mask provides three properties:
(1.) the physics of in-rushing air (mixed with dust & virus vapor) to small openings clogs the openings just like 3 linebackers and 1 kid all rushing to get through the same door at the same time - even the kid won't get through even though they're all small enough to fit, and
(2.) larger droplets will land on the surface of the mask, not your eyes/nose/mouth/face.
(3.) if you're infected, prevents you from infecting others.
So add this all up and here's what you get:
* wear lots of washable clothing, including over your face and hair (and glasses over your eyes), and, after returning from being out, treat the clothes like they're contaminated meaning wash them (or at a minimum let them sit for 5-7 days before touching), and then yourself.
Note that N95 masks are very difficult to sanitize per 3M: they can't be washed, heated (much), etc and ionizing radiation (like a microwave) destroys the coating that makes them work. Best you can do is let them sit for 7 days face down in a paper bag. Better is to wear them with a washable cover. The key is, anything that touches the outside is contaminated and if it touches the inside the mask is toast.
* a "buff", "snood", or smartly rolled bandana work great as a basic face mask (bandana: fold in half diagonally, fold bottom corners up 2/3rds, roll 1/2" of long edge down 2 or 3 times till it touches the top of the folded up corners holding them in place, tie around your face, long side on top; rolling covers nose bridge, folded bottom corners seal chin)
* Line homemade masks with thicker material if you can, baby diaper works great and makes you laugh knowing your breathing through a diaper
These things will cut down your risks significantly, and anecdotal evidence shows this, not just with covid19, but with other coronaviruses.
The coronavirus is obviously robust, however its protective layer is very fragile to things like isopropyl alcohol, full UV light (like direct sunlight), and plain old soap, and it also denatures rather quickly on porous surfaces like paper and cloth (which means 3-5 days, 7 to be safe).
While it's not proven, there's no other reasonable explanation for such widespread transmission other than covid19 is transmissible via simple breathing - thus you can be infected by simply entering a vacated room an infected person was in, or being exposed to non-filtered air (cruise ships are notorious for this as they don't filter the air room-to-room).
Personally I wear a buff around my neck when I walk around and if I get close to anyone, or go into a confinedish area where multiple people have been (stairwell, hallways, et al), I pull it over my face. For grocery stores, shops, etc
I use a smoke mask with the buff pulled over that ... then when I get home
everything goes into the washing machine and I take a shower.
If anyone thinks this (or a mask) is overkill, a friend is the doc for FDNY, but now he's triaging ambulance calls 100 hours / week, and his advice based on what he's seeing is a hazmat suit (not a joke, deadly serious).
We should all be making mask-wearing the public symbol of a life-saver.