Covid 19 CRISIS

Yeah, the masks have already been mandatory for 2 weeks in the Czech Republic, and most people are wearing the home-made variety. Looks like Austria will now be making them mandatory at least for supermarket visits. Not sure why most non-Asian countries are so slow to adopt this.


There was no time from January to stock up on mask for people or hospitals because the plan was to let it rip though the country. In the US states are competing against each other for supplies... because our federal government, which can buy and ship like no other, is run by a boob. I spoke to a doctor friend who teaches medicine who basicly said buy em. I made my order March 20th they will arrive sometime this week.
 
You, me, and @Blind_Io should find this concerning because:

View attachment 3557195

If I'm forced to shave my beard, I'm doing full-on 80s porno stache.

Nobody's mandating respirators for the general public.
Clean shaven + respirator = protecting you from others.
Anything covering your face catching bigger droplets = protecting others from you.
 
There was no time from January to stock up on mask for people or hospitals because the plan was to let it rip though the country. In the US states are competing against each other for supplies... because our federal government, which can buy and ship like no other, is run by a boob. I spoke to a doctor friend who teaches medicine who basicly said buy em. I made my order March 20th they will arrive sometime this week.
Yeah, that's more or less the same in any non-Asian country, and in the current pandemic situation, it's just unrealistic that everyone will ever have a disposable mask available each day. The home made cotton masks are really the way to go for the general public as they can be sterilised by washing/ironing on a high temperature setting after each use.
 
Yeah, that's more or less the same in any non-Asian country, and in the current pandemic situation, it's just unrealistic that everyone will ever have a disposable mask available each day. The home made cotton masks are really the way to go for the general public as they can be sterilised by washing/ironing on a high temperature setting after each use.

Is there any reason why someone who's not a doctor in a hospital could reused the same disposable mask more than once?
 
^ they begin to run out, the cost spikes again (partially because this announcement is going to mean more people buying them)
 
Is there any reason why someone who's not a doctor in a hospital could reused the same disposable mask more than once?

No, no reason. The point is to catch droplets you exhale... as long as you don't share your mask with others there's no reason not to reuse, you can't infect yourself with your droplets.
 
Is there any reason why someone who's not a doctor in a hospital could reused the same disposable mask more than once?
My understanding is that the main concern is that if someone who's infected sneezes/breathes/coughs at your mask, it gets contaminated. In a situation where everyone is wearing masks this risk should be reduced to a minimum but it's still recommended to sterilise the mask after each use.
 
Both things are true:

Anything starting from a scarf in front of your mouth greatly reduces the risk for other people to get infected by you. But it surely does not cancel it.

Anything starting from a scarf in front of your mouth partially reduces the risk of you getting infected by other people. But only a certain type of mask, corretly used, can reduce it so much as to cancel it.

Anything that does not filter 0,1 microns or smaller cannot stop the virus. It does not mean it doesn't protect in any way, as it eliminates bigger droplets or infected particles bigger than its nominal level, and even a scarf might be minimally helpful, but the viruses can pass right through.

What can protect you are respirators which can filter 0,1; they are the FFP3 disposable masks, or the reusable masks with FFP3 filters. HOWEVER: they lose half of their efficacy after 8 hours and NEED TO BE HANDLED CORRECTLY. The filtered impurities stick on the surface of the mask, so the mask should not be touched while wearing it, should be removed without touching it and should be thrown in sealed bags (or sanitized, if reusable, correctly disposing of the filter) after each (SINGLE) use.

FFP2 masks offer a limited protection against viruses, they also lose half their (already not fantastic) protective power after 8 hours and have the same issues with touching/handling.

ALSO, the mask ALONE does not protect 100%, as the eyes should be protected too and the contamination might come indirectly from touching infected surfaces and then touching the eyes, mouth, nose. To have a 100% cover, you should use protective shoe-cover, goggles, masks, face cover, double gloves, full (possibly air-tight suit, wearing them correctly, washing hands thouroughly before and after wearing the protections, disposing of the used items correctly and maybe removing all the clothes and cleaning them too before reverting back to normal life (as a friend who works with Covid-19 patients does each day).

100% level of protection is only attainable by medical personnel. What normal people can do is to reduce their risk as much as possible. This includes social distancing, washing hands correctly and frequently, not touching your face unless with clean hands and possibly wearing some form of protection in front of your mouth and nose and wash oneself and the clothes more frequently than usual.

It is important to notice that impurities can stick to the mask and to any surface, so cleaning/sanitizing/throwing away the exposed surfaces is paramount to avoid the infection; The mask might even become a danger, because if it is reused (ok, let's say... too much, but it technically should only be used once before disposing of it or sanitizing it) or touched too much it might favour coming in contact with nasty thing. Plus, the mask gives a false sense of safety, which is very rarely there, pushing people to relax on other form of self-protecting behaviours.

HOWEVER, most of the people will not get in real contact with infected people, so most of those over-precautions will be pretty much useless most of the times. The truth is, most people will only need something to cover their mouths and noses as a general protection, unless they are going to work in places where they know the virus is roaming.
 
Last edited:
I've been in a meeting with an infected person and seven other people for three hours. No one was infected. Luck? Partly. Mostly, covid also is not the measles so it's infective but not super infective.
Maybe covering your face, keeping a meter distance between people and not do mass events is the first step out of lockdown.
 
My understanding is that the main concern is that if someone who's infected sneezes/breathes/coughs at your mask, it gets contaminated. In a situation where everyone is wearing masks this risk should be reduced to a minimum but it's still recommended to sterilise the mask after each use.

If someone sneezes in your face you have a significant risk of getting infected through your eyes or stuff on your face in general, so I'd recommend not getting sneezed at as the best measure for that scenario.
Otherwise you'd have to sterilise everything all the time - your jacket, your face, your hair, etc.

What can protect you are respirators which can filter 0,1; they are the FFP3 disposable masks, or the reusable masks with FFP3 filters. HOWEVER: they lose half of their efficacy after 8 hours and NEED TO BE HANDLED CORRECTLY. The filtered impurities stick on the surface of the mask, so the mask should not be touched while wearing it, should be removed without touching it and should be thrown in sealed bags (or sanitized, if reusable, correctly disposing of the filter) after each (SINGLE) use.

Not to forget, those respirators significantly restrict your breathing, and thereby reduce oxygen levels in your blood. Prolonged use while not in a highly infectious environment might actually do more harm than good.
 
If someone sneezes in your face you have a significant risk of getting infected through your eyes or stuff on your face in general, so I'd recommend not getting sneezed at as the best measure for that scenario.
Otherwise you'd have to sterilise everything all the time - your jacket, your face, your hair, etc.

Yeah, sure it does get a bit academic and theoretical, but anyway if you wear a disposable mask several days in a row, I imagine it won't smell very nice either. The important thing is that everyone that wears something on their faces and are not projecting any infected water droplets at you.
 
Yeah, sure it does get a bit academic and theoretical, but anyway if you wear a disposable mask several days in a row, I imagine it won't smell very nice either.

If stored in plastic, it will smell quite awful after little time. If kept in a dry environment, it will take sometime more. I was using them before this crisis as a form to contain my allergies.

Not to forget, those respirators significantly restrict your breathing, and thereby reduce oxygen levels in your blood. Prolonged use while not in a highly infectious environment might actually do more harm than good.

Yes, though it is mostly felt when doing physical activity of any kind. Standing or sitting around doing low-energy activities will not affect you that much.

I have tried them: even a brisk walk will be enough to want to take them off, so I can't imagine hos discomfortable must be for those people who are doing physical labor while wearing them.
 
Turkmenistan bans the word "Coronavirus".

They also -say- they have no cases in their country, as of now.

No, really
 
Okay... that will help. Surely. Not.

Tomorrow is April Fools' Day. A good reason to avoid news entirely for the day.
 
Top