Maskholes

Honestly, if I knew all of this was coming, I swear I would've bought tons of N95s and latex gloves, specifically to give to hospital workers and even delivery people. I'm by far not wealthy, but comfortable enough that I could've bought wholesale packs of both as they *were* cheap as hell at one point.

Fuck anyone who stockpiled solely to gouge.

Are his groceries/dinner nonessential to you, bitch? Maybe he is a hospital worker and needs to stay healthy or is concerned about not being a carrier and spreading it to someone else.

the guy in the photo is a complete idiot, with his full beard, no masks will help!

The mask does protect them. If it didn’t, why would medical professionals wear them?

[quote] I'm by far not wealthy,

Oh dear.

I think I may be in love with OP.

(Don’t tell him though!)

Masks don't work if you have a beard. CDC issued a warning a few weeks back with pictures.

R7 Yes, they do. They're just not AS effective.

Wearing a mask- any mask- is helpful in that it will keep you from touching your face. If this mask stops him from infecting himself then it was well worth wearing.

R9

Oh thank dog! I still have my He-Man mask in the attic.

1. your beard will trap airborne droplet 2. you won't be able touch your mouth/nose because of the mask, but you will touch your beard more frequently and completely unaware of that 3. your beard will anchor the virus for hours if not for days if you fail to wash your beard THOROUGHLY

[quote] If this mask stops him from infecting himself

R12, obviously I meant if he touched a doorknob/bag/etc that had the virus and then touched his nose or mouth he could infect himself. The virus can live on surfaces for several hours, hence the need for us to be always washing our hands and wiping down deliveries.

For those of us who inadvertently touch our faces often, a mask can be a great deterrent.

I have an N95 mask because of the wildfires we get. Hospitals don't want my old mask. I don't normally wear it, but I would going through an airport or in a crowd. The other masks don't protect, but they do reduce spreading.

The tissue paper ones are essentially unless to an uninfected person. Facemasks are in SHORT SUPPLY. Save the for health care workers!

From the CDC website: If you are NOT sick: You do not need to wear a facemask unless you are caring for someone who is sick (and they are not able to wear a facemask). Facemasks may be in short supply and they should be saved for caregivers.

I completely absolutely agree with the last part r15. We absolutely need to leave the masks for the medical professionals. I have not bought any.

But “you don’t need a mask” is a bit of a fudge to get the result they want. See the article below.

Mask Douche in OP's photo looks kind of handsome and hot and with nice legs, I bet. I'd like to do him--but he has to take off the tampon shield first.

I saw few couples walking in the park today, with masks on, and they were clearly not ill. Two were wearing the N95 type that are impossible to get right now that doctors and nurses are desperate for.

[quote] and they were clearly not ill.

Thank you, Doctor.

Viruses can be roughly 40 times smaller than bacteria. Think they can get through cloth?

They can also get through the microscopic holes in condoms, by the way.

I don't wear a mask, but I having been using gloves while at the supermarket and CVS. I Clorox them down after leaving the store too. It's extremely hard to really protect yourself 100%.

Have^

Certain masks like N95 can protect you. Not to mention it can protect others from getting it from you if you cough in public. Perhaps that's the reason why the virus has stabilized in a lot of Asian countries while the west is getting out of control.

Is that Saheed from Lost?

Assholes like r19 are the people who are going to prolong this situation. As r18 implied, the only people that should be wearing a mask outside, as recommended by the CDC and AMA are people who are I'll. Otherwise keep your ass quarantined in your house if you don't have a mask and are ill.

R25, how the fuck did you get all of that out of my post at r19?

The person implied the people he saw wearing masks were “clearly not sick.” My point was how the fuck does he know that just by looking at them?

So fuck off.

R4, medical professionals are right up close with sick and dying people all day long, they can be infected or infect others. Wearing a face mask just to walk down the street or take the subway does nothing. It might help if someone who is infected sneezes in your face, but right now you shouldn't be anywhere that close to someone for the droplets of their sneeze to reach you in the first place. Which is OP's point about this asshole, he shouldn't be walking out and about like this, he should be indoors. His mask isn't going to protect against the infections that could get caught in his beard anyway.

As you say, however, medical professionals need these masks, so that's another reason why an asshole who doesn't need to wear one should not be using them up, given that we're in a pandemic and there's a shortage of masks.

Making your point just in your signature doesn't always work, r26.

I wonder, OP, if anyone asked that apparently very healthy looking man if he had some respiratory issue that required the mask? And in the long run, it's not your damned business either way!

The bullshit reveals itself. Why get upset with anyone wearing a homemade version if it makes someone feel better? The mean escalates quickly in a sea of fear. Get out of the water, OP!

Love you, R2, for realizing it.

You don't know him nor his life OP. Worry about yourself and people you know.

Op fuck off. Please self isolate.

I’ll accept your apology, r28.

OP is a fucktard. Just because OP is healthy, OP assumes everyone else is. I do chemotherapy. I have for quite some time now. My Drs recommended and prescribed N95 masks. I paid $100 a box of 20. I have not been stockpiling, it’s the way my life has unfolded, and they are necessary for me.

I resent the fuck out of assholes who dont know the strangers around them, and talk loudly about how stupid masks are. Fuck you.

I really want to get violent at the next person that says that to me, or at me in that fucking know-it-all fucking smug judgement filled rants in louder voices.

NO ONE COMPLAINED ABOUT MY N95s THREE WEEKS AGO. AND IT’S STILL NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS.

"Just because OP is healthy, OP assumes everyone else is." Unheathy people shouldn't be going out r33, nobody should. That is the point!

Mind your own business Gladys

Anyone wearing a mask of any type outdoors (even the useless kind) should be assumed to be sick or immune compromised. Those are the only people that should be using a mask outdoors per every reputable medical professional and association. Particularly when there is a shortage for doctors and nurses. Otherwise, if you're ill and don't have a mask ISOLATE YOURSELF and don't perpetuate this pandemic!

R33 it's everyone's business that you are hoarding N95 masks when medical professionals are risking their own health and life to care for their community because of lack of supplies like these masks. Why not donate them to your local emergency room?

This is stupid. If you have a scarf or something, use it.

What R33 said. You don't know anything about that man in the photo. You sound like the asshole.

I'm immunossuppressed and I've worn gloves and a makeshift mask/scarf on my last few outings.

Trying to reduce risk in every way possible.

It also protects others from him. If he coughs or sneezes it limits the amount going out

I'd fuck him. Love mask dudes.

You’re a pisser, r42!

R41, what would protect others from him if he sneezed or coughed is being at least 2 metres from him, which is a little difficult when he's just strolling around town and the subway. If he's sneezing or coughing then he shouldn't be out at all - in fact, he shouldn't be out at all even if he's feeling perfectly fine.

Why don't people get it - just stay the fuck indoors and don't imagine just because you're wearing a mask you're going to be ok so why not just carry on doing whatever you want.

I don't really believe the "masks don't protect you against coronavirus" bullshit, but I still am proud to say I haven't bought any and won't be buying any. Leave them for the hospital and grocery store workers, those who still have to go to work and be in contact with the masses.

Would a scarf on my face help?

OP, perhaps the man in your photo has a predilection for wearing panty liners taped over his mouth and it has nothing to do with the pestilence of our times.

It's so fascinating to see the west vs east mentality when it comes to masks. In the west you have people like op who are so convinced masks are useless. In the east it's encoraged by the government to wear masks. For example 99% of people in Hong Kong are wearing masks. In Singapore the government purchased all the masks to give them to each household for free. And corona is getting out of control in...

The told us not to wear masks because we don't have them. Duh. They invented cockamamie Malarky excuses.

In the east, r48, they also told people to stay in the house and people stayed in the house. Those of us who are saying this guy is a maskhole for wearing a mask are saying it because so many people think all they need to do is wear a mask and they'll be fine so they can just go around the streets and the subway like they always used to. Or that they can stand less than 1.5 metres from someone. Like my vulnerable group mother who for some fucking reason is still going shopping practically every single day and when I tell her to stop doing that she retorts, as though she has a zinger comeback, "I wear a mask every time I go out".

The best way to stop infections is not to wear masks but not to go anywhere near each other.

"And corona is getting out of control in..." - currently in Europe and the US, but NOT because people haven't been wearing masks but because they haven't been socially distancing and self-isolating. It's because shops and restaurants and schools and gyms remained open for so long when they should have been closed. Thankfully, and fucking finally, the UK has just gone into lockdown.

A kindly reminder too that this thing started in the east. Stay in the fucking house and go out as little as possible and only for essential reasons.

I witnessed a teen boy of about 16 or so this at an airport earlier this month. His whole family were in front of me, standing there wearing masks.

Then, he lifted off his mask, sneezed into the air, and brought his mask back down over his face.

I couldn’t fucking believe it.

Do well used jockstraps make effective masks?

If so, I'm safe.

I've got a couple non-medical, used N95's that no medical professional would want to use, OP, and I'm in a high risk group. The CDC is almost certain to revise their 'advice' not to wear one, according to my dentist, when supplies improve.

I have a mask I bought years ago from Home Depot for when I deep clean the bathroom. I haven't worn it out partly because of the mask police.

I agree, once the supply flows, the advice about masks is going to change. Watch, the tide will turn. They may not repel infection 100% but they help somewhat--even if it's simply stopping fingers touching faces. I know it's something I do unconsciously all the time. And wearing the mask will slow down virus carriers' transmission. Again, not 100% but less so.

Aside from the supply problem, I think the anti-mask sentiment is also cultural. It's odd looking--when I first lived in Japan, I was perplexed why people were wearing them and jokingly asked a co-worker if he was role-playing doctor that day. He explained he was sick and was wearing a mask to prevent transmission to others. My initial thought was why don't you don't stay home then. But, then again, how many Americans show up to work and school with runny noses and coughing and sneezing? I never took up the habit but I appreciated the courtesy of mask wearing.

The other part is it looks alarming. Seeing people in masks out on the streets of America is too visceral of a reminder of sickness. But in Asia, it's normal to wear them so it's not as alarming and anxiety-inducing.

At Walgreens recently, I saw a guy in a gas mask. I wondered if he was one of those doomsday preppers and he had everything ready for the end of civilization.

I have bacaclavas for cycling and have thought about wearing them for when I go to the market. First I wonder if they provide any barrier at all? Second, if the mask police will find it acceptable?

Hospitals REALLY need to say to their employees "Bring back all of the masks that you stated hoarding, no questions asked." I've been asked by 3 different healthcare workers in the past 2 weeks if I wanted some masks. I was appalled. Keep that shit for yourself. I'm not even close to them, they're just customers of mine. They weren't bartering either. I bought a box of 10 back in the beginning of February. I asked my neighbor, a hospice worker if she'd like some of my masks and she said to keep them for my family, we'd definitely need them.

I have an old N95 mask I bought to clean out a dusty attic, obviously no healthcare worker could use it. I use it to go to the store once a week and then keep it in a paper bag for 7 days to get rid of any germs. Why should I not use it? So the idiot OP can feel better? Sometimes it's best to mind your own business.

The recommendations are changing

[quote] I have bacaclavas for cycling

You have a what now? You may want to get that thing checked out.

[quote] I have a mask I bought years ago from Home Depot for when I deep clean the bathroom.

Explosive diarrhea?

Someone smarter than me, like the guy at r54 who makes a shit-ton of sense, will have to explain to me how wearing a mask is supposedly helpful in preventing me from spreading germs, but not the opposite.

It seems to me if it keeps my germs from coming out (so to speak) how does it not prevent germs from getting in? I understand nothing is fool-proof and unless it’s hermetically sealed it won’t stop all germs, but still.

Scott Gottlieb, MD:

Feds should consider telling people to wear masks in areas of epidemic spread. But supply chain for hospitals is crushed. All resources must go to providers. In the interim - for consumers who don't already have masks - CDC can fashion proposal on how people make cotton masks.

R62, I'm not sure about that too. Maybe the logic is if you are spitting, breathing, coughing out the virus, the mask you're wearing catches most of it. And prevents the rest from going too far and/or landing on high touch areas. Therefore minimizing you spreading the virus. Minimize, not completely prevent.

But if you are not infected but somehow get the virus on your mask and especially around the perimeter of it, the virus can still makes its way into your respiratory system. For example, you touch an infected plastic bag and then you adjust your mask. The virus is now on your mask and the edges. From there, the virus makes its way to your mouth.

I think a mask minimizes either way--but not totally prevent infection. In a pandemic, if everyone acts as if they are infected and wears a mask, I can see its efficacy. If very few people wear masks and you do, you're helping yourself a little bit more, but there are too many spreaders out there for near total protection.

My 2 cents.

You’re a nice and intelligent man, r64 r54.

Viruses can’t crawl around, though. They stay where they land.

I think the CDC will soon tell people to wear masks in high risk places like NYC. They should give instructions on how to make a simple cotton mask. I'd feel a little better if everyone on the street was wearing one.

It won't end the pandemic but it can't hurt.

Like several others in this thread, I bought my masks back in October when I was installing insulation in the attic. I used one and kept the other.

I wore the clean mask at work when my coworkers said they wanted to talk to mainly for THEIR protection. Within the last 14 days, I had been in contact with many people and do NOT want to risk infecting anyone.

Some people laughed until I told them the city had opened all of the jails, released the non violent offenders and several of these ex cons had approached me while I was getting gas.

They stopped laughing and backed off. It's true.

Maybe this guy is a door dash or Uber driver. You just don't know. Or maybe he doesn't want to infect anyone else

"Maybe the logic is if you are spitting, breathing, coughing out the virus, the mask you're wearing catches most of it."

If you are spitting, breathing and coughing out the virus then you shouldn't be going out of the house at all. Part of the problem with masks is the complacency they allow, such as "if you are spitting, breathing, coughing out the virus, the mask you're wearing catches most of it so it's ok if you go out as long as you're wearing a mask". And you can spread the virus not just through your mouth/nose, it can even be on your clothes and you infect people that way. People should just stand 2 metres apart if they have to go out.

The guy in the photo is on his mobile and is having his photo papped, he probably has no awareness of what's going on and who is walking around him. He also looks like he's just gone grocery shopping.

R14 Same here. I bought a box of N95 masks last year because of the fires, but can’t donate them because they are not individually wrapped. If I wear them in public NOW, I’m shamed. They are great for sanding, painting and refinishing, though.

[quote] Some people laughed until I told them the city had opened all of the jails, released the non violent offenders and several of these ex cons had approached me while I was getting gas.

[quote] They stopped laughing and backed off. It's true.

Several "ex cons" approached you while you were getting gas? That certainly does sound "true."

"Within the last 14 days, I had been in contact with many people and do NOT want to risk infecting anyone."

Then stand/sit 2 metres apart from people, r68 and work from home if possible. Don't think it's ok to be standing right next to someone just because you're wearing a mask. This is why goverrments need to intervene and order the temporary closure of businesses.

R70, why are you going out in public? Stay at home!

OP, tell us more about how you would order other people around whom you see only in photographs.

The ridiculous line that they tried to sell us at the beginning that "masks won't protect you, don't buy them!" was such a blatant lie that I honestly find it hard to trust whatever even the doctors say during the press briefings. They've stopped with the mask lie--have you noticed?--but the new lie is that "young people are at huge risk!" or whatever derivative they're using on that theme, another at BEST mischaracterization.

WHO advice on coronavirus prevention - no mention of masks:

To prevent infection and to slow transmission of COVID-19, do the following:

- Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, or clean them with alcohol-based hand rub. - Maintain at least 1 metre distance between you and people coughing or sneezing. - Avoid touching your face. - Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. - Stay home if you feel unwell. - Refrain from smoking and other activities that weaken the lungs. - Practice physical distancing by avoiding unnecessary travel and staying away from large groups of people.

WHO advice on coronavirus and masks:

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: When and how to use masks

- If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.

- Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.

- Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

- If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.

- Before putting on a mask, clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

- Cover mouth and nose with mask and make sure there are no gaps between your face and the mask.

- Avoid touching the mask while using it; if you do, clean your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

- Replace the mask with a new one as soon as it is damp and do not re-use single-use masks.

- To remove the mask: remove it from behind (do not touch the front of mask); discard immediately in a closed bin; clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

Needless to say, if you are coughing and sneezing then you shouldn't be going anywhere near enough to someone to infect them.

Listen to this lady.

And this lady.

WE HAVE TO SHAVE OUR BEARDS?????

I have one N95 mask that was in my earthquake preparedness kit. When I got the kit I tried it on so it is already not available for use by a medical professional because it is not pristine. I will wear it anywhere I fucking choose and stop with the hysterical lynch mob mentality. The government has been telling people for YEARS to have these things for disaster preparedness. The medical community should have been prepared. It's not like a pandemic was a highly unlikely event in their world. And force these paper companies to get busy making them. If they had started at the beginning of March we would already have millions.

You do that, r81. Just bear in mind that your one N95 mask is probably useless after one use, if it was even useful during that use and by wearing it multiple times while exposed to the coronavirus (i.e. potentially anywhere) you are at risk of infecting not just others but yourself too from whatever shit might get caught on the mask.

R81, a union just found 39 million masks from a supplier that they’re earmarking for medical professionals. The company that made them says it can make 20 million per week.

R83 I'd read an article about the government having a stockpile of 1.5 million, they're property of DHS, that is going to get them to TSA, it was odd, because of the lack of acknowledged need by states like NYs hospital system.

Masks coming out of the woodwork.

The CDC will be changing their mask protocol from not necessary, to necessary within 10 days. This may correlate with Trump's wish of relaxing social distancing. Masks are indeed a barrier to reduce transition. A mask can stop that sneeze and cough entering the air around you, and those droplets falling onto a surface for you to pick up later. Even a painters mask. So folks, we were told another lie. The next couple of weeks will see the uptick from those who got infected this past week.

Prepare to die, you essential workers at all those stores, grocery and otherwise.

Oh, a link. You may have to register at NYT, but it's at least free.

Well that link didn't work. Does this?

" SKIP TO CONTENTSKIP TO SITE INDEX

SUBSCRIBE NOW Opinion Why Telling People They Don’t Need Masks Backfired To help manage the shortage, the authorities sent a message that made them untrustworthy.

Zeynep Tufekci By Zeynep Tufekci Dr. Tufekci is a professor of information science who specializes in the social effects of technology.

March 17, 2020

Credit...Todd Heisler/The New York Times When news of a mysterious viral pneumonia linked to a market in Wuhan, China, reached the outside world in early January, one of my first reactions was to order a modest supply of masks. Just a few weeks later, there wasn’t a mask to be bought in stores, or online for a reasonable price — just widespread price gouging. Many health experts, no doubt motivated by the sensible and urgent aim of preserving the remaining masks for health care workers, started telling people that they didn’t need masks or that they wouldn’t know how to wear them.

As the pandemic rages on, there will be many difficult messages for the public. Unfortunately, the top-down conversation around masks has become a case study in how not to communicate with the public, especially now that the traditional gatekeepers like media and health authorities have much less control. The message became counterproductive and may have encouraged even more hoarding because it seemed as though authorities were shaping the message around managing the scarcity rather than confronting the reality of the situation.

First, many health experts, including the surgeon general of the United States, told the public simultaneously that masks weren’t necessary for protecting the general public and that health care workers needed the dwindling supply. This contradiction confuses an ordinary listener. How do these masks magically protect the wearers only and only if they work in a particular field?

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But I always knew that R82. You're just so fucking dumb it's unbelievable. It's about reducing risk, not being safe.

Yummmm

R88, you're the fucking dumb one and obviously you didn't always know anything- by wearing a mask, you could be increasing risk. If you want to reduce risk, don't go near people.

R82 is spreading misinformation. Coronavirus 'dies' on various surfaces (about 24 hours on cardboard, for instance), so masks certainly would become effectively virus free after a period of time, perhaps helped along if there's some envionmental exposure to UV light. That time is unknown at the moment. Study needed.

By design, masks trap particulates and viruses and don't transmit them. You're most likely better off using a previously used one than none at all.

R91, you're the one talking shit and who's doing trash science based on reading a couple of different things and then trying to put them together but getting it wrong. What are you suggesting? That you can wear a mask, leave it aside for a few days, and then wear it again?

The fact that the coronavirus can remain on surfaces for days is precisely why you shouldn't rewear masks! As is the fact that the mask traps the viral particles in it!

You're the one spreading misinformation. I posted a bunch of stuff from the WHO and the disposal of masks after use as well as the fact that masks should only be worn by medical professionals, those infected with coronavirus [who should remian indoors anyway] and those looking after them is what every medical professional and scientist says.

Not sure what your damage is, but I've just put you on ignore, R82, etc. You're clearly a troll.

In a week, the government will order us all to be wearing masks if we go out in public.

So hang on to yours if you have them.

[quote]Listen to this lady ..... and this lady r78 R79

Yes, listen to them say “there’s no evidence that masks prevent infection,” yet “wear them when with sick people, to avoid infection.”

That’s in direct contradiction.

Stanford researchers prove you can sterilize your n95 mask in the oven at 158F for 30 minutes.

It would be great if OP's energy and venom could be directed towards the evil, incompetent political leadership of this country rather than towards some, random citizen who is trying his best to not die.

While you're attacking some rando whose health status you don't know, the Dotard-in-Chief is trying to figure out how many deaths are acceptable because he didn't do his fucking job in the first place by making sure we had medical supplies.

Yesterday I was at CVS and there was a middle-aged guy walking around wearing one of those heavy-duty, dual cartridge filter masks. I'm sure it offers good protection, but I'd feel too embarrassed to wear one myself in public.

Even if your life was seriously at risk?

The funniest thing about seeing people in the paper mask is that so many have no clue that you're supposed to wear it with the colored (usually blue) side on the outside.

I’ll wear my mask any way I want cause I’m not racist. I don’t see color.

I bought one of those dual cartridge masks for protection when doing mold removal. They are fucking uncomfortable.

I love you, R101

Back at ya, r100. We all need it now.

Hate to interject with regards to reusing masks, if you're in a position where you are constantly knowingly around positive patients who didn't experience milder symptoms and required hospitalization, changing is extremely important.

If you're going out once every other week to a place where you may encounter others, wearing the same mask isn't going to have as much of a risk of not wearing one at all. As others mentioned the virus lifespan on various surfaces but if handled and stored properly can be worn a few times. Unless you came into contact with someone who is coughing or visibly sick, then just dispose of it like bio hazardous materials.

I've mentioned my sister, a respiratory therapist, called tonight looking for bandanas for her for work. This is a full blown goat rodeo at this point.

When I lived in Japan, people wore cloth masks. I don't recall many people wearing medical masks. Would a cotton mask work?

[quote]R105 with regards to reusing masks, if you're in a position where you are constantly knowingly around positive patients who didn't experience milder symptoms and required hospitalization, changing is extremely important.

Since they come in a box of multiples, I’m guessing ordinary people could rotate them, 1 per day, if they had them.

I think it’s about risk reduction rather than risk eradication right now.

Looks like the answer is no.

Results The rates of all infection outcomes were highest in the cloth mask arm, with the rate of ILI statistically significantly higher in the cloth mask arm (relative risk (RR)=13.00, 95% CI 1.69 to 100.07) compared with the medical mask arm. Cloth masks also had significantly higher rates of ILI compared with the control arm. An analysis by mask use showed ILI (RR=6.64, 95% CI 1.45 to 28.65) and laboratory-confirmed virus (RR=1.72, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.94) were significantly higher in the cloth masks group compared with the medical masks group. Penetration of cloth masks by particles was almost 97% and medical masks 44%.

Let's try that link again...

This is interesting. (I’m not saying it’s accurate.) (and he does state he considers it “basically” sterilized.)

I am confused by his saying the mask should be in water 72 degrees Celsius (or above) for 10 mins....yet the water in his example would cool down considerably during that time (?) Maybe it’s time to break out that candy thermometer?

I just a 10-pack of masks today from Amazon. I'd been resisting buying one because (a) we've been advised all this time by the CDC, WHO and others that they don't really protect you if you're not sick and (b) the hospitals are in so desperate need of them, I felt guilty at the idea of buying one when they could use them so much more. But now that they're saying that maybe it's a good idea of the general public wears them, I decided okay, maybe I will go ahead and order some after all.

Due to the backlog, however, they won't be here until mid-April or close to May. By the time they get here, I just hope the need for them will be a little less urgent. But whether it is not, my conscience about having them may take over and perhaps I'll still donate them to the nearest hospital anyway.

R111, I've been checking Amazon all day and have yet to make a purchase. None have very good ratings, seem like poor quality items rush out to capitalize on pandemic. And they won't arrive for awhile.

[quote]they don't really protect you if you're not sick and (b) the hospitals are in so desperate need of them

Why would hospital staff need them if they don't protect you?

Even people with mild symptoms should be wearing masks if they have to go out in public. I had mild GI symptoms last week (nausea, stomach pain) but won’t go grocery shopping every couple of weeks without a surgical mask I have (not as effective as an N95, but better than nothing). And you’re welcome for possibly not subjecting you to cornonavirus, since I’ll never know what it was and the incubation period is 14 days (and stomach/GI symptoms are seen in a certain percentage of folks with Covid-19. People with ANY symptoms should be wearing masks if they have to get necessities. I was one of the very few 30-somethings with a mask on in the grocery store and yes it felt weird for a bit, but I feel better knowing I’m not spreading my germs around the very few times I have to run errands. I think American culture is just anti-anything that seems too different and I suspect racism is involved as well since typically only Asian folks wear masks in public. But as someone said earlier—they wear them regularly if they have active symptoms to protect others.

The medical centers and hospitals won't take mask donations if the carton/packaging has been opened. I was given a few by a friend who bought them during the fires in California when the air quality was so poor. She had bought a case and tried to donate them, but the facilities cannot use them if there is a possibility of contamination.

The professor from Tech Ingredients discusses the issue of mask reuse and shows how to sterilize masks with 70% alcohol (demonstration starts at 14:00). Channel also has other science based vids on surviving COVID-19 that are excellent.

I sterilize my mask with a combo of Chanel # 5 and White Shoulders. No virus can stand up to that.

I have a n99 mask, even better than n95 mask which I bought 6 months ago when I was working with some toxic chemicals on an art project. I am HIV positive so I am immune compromised even though you would not know it just by looking at me. I have never worn it in public but I bring it with me in case. I think I need to start wearing it though. I stay inside my place and only leave for food. Last time I was in line some woman brought her kid and sure enough while I was inline just behind her trapped between the dividers her kid goes into a sneezing fit, doesn't cover and wipes her snot all over her clothes. Mother just looks the other way. But I digress.

Anyway, my point is, just because someone looks healthy, doesn't mean they are not running around with a damaged immune system that could be fatal if they got the virus. And buying food and cooking it myself is probably a lot safer than delivery.

May sister who in a registered nurse for 30 years is making those cloth ones to give out to people at the hospital. They go OVER the N95 mask, not in place of it. They can then be washed and reused. It cuts down on how many N95 mask they have to toss with every patient. So I guess the cloth dose some good even though people say it's too pours.

Yesterday in a local Publix store I saw a very hot black guy with a superman t-shirt on, with face mask and nitrile gloves on. I thought it was kind of ridiculous.

First of all we need to assime everyone has this disease and can spread it. Id rather someone wear a mask than not! How are you to know if youre the one infected or not?! Stop the Mask hate and thank god those people had some to help stall the spread of this! The healthcare community have their own lobbying factions we the everyday masked and unmasked wearing people do not!

First of all we need to assime everyone has this disease and can spread it. Id rather someone wear a mask than not! How are you to know if youre the one infected or not?! Stop the Mask hate and thank god those people had some to help stall the spread of this! The healthcare community have their own lobbying factions we the everyday masked and unmasked wearing people do not!

*Assume

OP - Askhole!

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I had a sociopath like R122 say on social media that she would wear a mask when grocery shopping if she caught the virus and was under quarantine.

R126 What? Get the cock out of your mouth ! Youre not making any sense.

Um. R127 .... R126 was trying to say mask and gloves whilst grocery shopping under guarantine is not helpful. Their ass should be home and not shopping! However R127 what is someone to do if they live alone /disabled and do not have someone to get essentials ( and lets face it grocery deliveries are not reliable)

R128, that was the logic this young sociopath had. She said that because she lived alone she would have to shop.

I told her that even if she had no friends and no delivery service available in her part of L.A., there are mere acquaintances and even people who do not like her, who would run the errand rather than have an infected person wondering around the supermarket spreading disease.

But if you do not have a phone, live far from other homes, have no churches in your town, cannot drive, and have not had a job or co-workers it might be difficult to find some person willing to bring food.

I think this young sociopath lived in Los Feliz, which apparently is such a desolate area of LA that human contact is hard to have.

Because, dear r113, hospital staff are in close contact all-day long with people who have the coronavirus. They are forced to be in close contact with them because they are trying to save their lives. Hospital staff are also wearing proper medical masks and know how to put them on, take them off and dispose of them properly.

If you are not near anyone with coronavirus, then you don't need a mask. If you know someone with coronavirus, then you should not be in any contact with them at all. You should also not be in close enough contact with anyone to be able to catch coronavirus from them or to infect them with it.

R130 "If you are not near anyone with coronavirus, then you don't need a mask. If you know someone with coronavirus, then you should not be in any contact with them at all"

How are we to know which people we come across even in our free but suggested daily restricted lives have it or not?

New guidance is that everyone, EVERYONE should be wearing masks.

Then the new guiders better start handing out the masks, there are none to be found.

I thought this thread was about "Muskholes" Darn.

R98, I have one of those from a previous job with better filter cartridges than n95.

You better believe I will wear it if I have to go out and things get worse. It's fitted to my face and I wore it for several years before I changed jobs.

It may look crazy but I can't afford to come down with this shit so I'm taking every precaution I can.

The physician on this video that makes a lot of sense: If you're not ill, you should wear makeshift masks (not medical grade) for the purpose of training yourself not to touch your face. 99% of infections come from hand to mouth/nose/eye contact. So, as long as you are diligent about washing your hands and not touching your face, you should be fine. (It's a long video, but watch the first 20 minutes. It's reassuring, practical, and helpful.)

Thank you for that, R136 -- he was wonderful. And what he says is so level-headed and practical. Great post.

You can easily make your own, even with paper towels and no sewing.

Seeing a lot more about masks now. It will be toilet paper wars again. Though most of it will be online. Can't find any masks online without brutal ratings or delivery before mid-late April. I see cloth masks are be accepted but still stuck on research that they provide almost no coverage at all.

R139, I managed to find reasonably priced surgical masks on Amazon and ordered early March. The Chinese seller never shipped, finally giving an arrival date in May. It's probably a scam (they get the money until Amazon finally tries to do a chargeback).

And here I thought this thread would be about me

[quote]Wearing a mask- any mask- is helpful in that it will keep you from touching your face. If this mask stops him from infecting himself then it was well worth wearing.

Thanks for this R9. I was looking for my soapbox before I got to your post. These people are assholes.

It’s one guy, with one mask, that’s likely serving a purpose known only to him. It’s not the much needed N95 mask. He’s not the problem.

The hoarders and the price gougers (often on and the same), including the Orange Turd playing his favorite states game, are.

*one

Where the fuck do you even buy masks now? I couldn’t get them in early Feb.

I have a box of 10 N95 masks I bought after we had fires here in CA. I was going to donate them to the local hospital, but they won't take them since the masks are not individually wrapped and sealed. So I wore one yesterday out grocery shopping and was surprised to see a LOT of folks wearing masks of all kinds.

Glad I have them.

Some of us already had them for home improvement projects, r145.

Installing insulation, spray painting, wood working, using the chainsaw, sanding rust, cleaning out dusty places like attics, basements or garages - some of us have a few on hand because we regularly need them for those sorts of things.

I bought my n95s back in September before this was even in China. I was installing insulation and planned on doing some fabric dying with dry pigment so I needed several masks. I got two packs of two each so I had four masks.

I wasn't "hoarding", I got as many as I thought I would need based on my activities (insulation, dye, woodworking). Anyone who does dusty work as a job or a hobby will probably have these lying around.

Once I heard about the shortages, I sent my unused masks to a friend who is a nurse. I also sent him the extra disposable gloves I had for dying and painting.

Of course I have the "used" masks to wear out if necessary. Stop thinking nobody "normally" uses these nasks. They are part of standard safety recommendations for many home improvement projects and hobbies.

How are you doing OP? Do you still think masks are useless? Dumbfuck.

OP's post is ageing well...

Like your spelling?

From CDC webpage on April 2: If you are NOT sick: You do not need to wear a facemask unless you are caring for someone who is sick (and they are not able to wear a facemask). Facemasks may be in short supply and they should be saved for caregivers.

So big old FUCK YOU to R148 and illiterate R149.

R135, how are you going to make sure that your one mask is disinfected each time you put it on?

Uh, you could wash it if it's fabric R152, spray or wipe if hard.

You sound very challenged. Sorry.

"How are we to know which people we come across even in our free but suggested daily restricted lives have it or not?"

If you keep 2 metres away from everyone else you should be ok.

If it stays in the air for 3 hours r131, then your flimsy mask is going to get covered in it so you'd better make sure you dispose of/disinfect it as soon as you get in the house and also don't touch it while it's on your face, to tighten it for example, and then touch any other part of your body. Watch out the virus particles don't go in your eyes!

It's actually not known if the virus particles produced by a single cough can transmit the infection so it's not really relevant if the particles can stay in the air for 3 hours. What you don't want to do is touch surfaces, especially plastic ones, and then touch your face to adjust your mask.

Jeez, OP, your post did not age well at all.

Is 3M bankrupt? Why aren’t they making masks 24/7? I thought production in China was allowed again.

Why does this make any difference whatsoever, OP? I am so tired of people like you who shriek at how other people live their own lives when they are not hurting anyone.

OP are you wearing a mask these days?

The use of masks in the US is going to make it much harder for the US to get the coronavirus under control because so many Americans seem to think that all you need do is wear a mask and you can just carry on as normal. You need a nationwide full lockdown and to do it properly this time. Masks will make minimal difference unless you're on public transport or in a small shop, and even there the difference will be minimal. If masks make you feel better then wear them, but unless you shut everything down, they won't do much. Anyone with any symptoms or who came into contact with anyone with symptoms should be self-isolating anyway.

I've worn a mask a handful of times and I spent lockdown in a country with very few cases and deaths.

Mask reduce your risk of infection by 65%. If everyone wore masks spread would be reduced 85%.

R160, if the US went on a serious and real lockdown you would reduce infections massively. Masks are simply being used as a way not to do what is actually needed. The greater the fixation with masks as the answer, the longer it will take the US to get this thing under control. How does 65% work out at an 85% reduction anyway?

As Dr Fauci said, most of Europe shut down 90-95% of activities, the US has not done anything like that. What you need to do in the US is shut down 95% of your activities.

[quote]In the United States, only about half the nation shut down, compared with 90% to 95% of activities in many European countries.

Unfortunately, Senator Lamar Alexander said “That’s why my mask is off right now. But like many other senators, when I’m walking the hallways or on the Senate floor, I’m wearing a mask.” The Senate should be closed, as parliaments in Europe were.

Any kinds of masks will just protect you fat old farts, otherwise those Third World countries in South East Asia wouldn't pull through this shitty pandemic with low number of corona deaths and infections like they do. It's a FACT!

I think you mean East Asian countries r162 and what they actually did was very different from just wearing masks.

Besides, they Asian countries that have been successful acted immediately as soon as they heard about the situation in China. The US did nothing, even after it could see what was happening in Europe.

Coronavirus is out of control in the US and the only way it's going to be brought under control is with a full lockdown.

Taiwanese school. Not many masks in class. Cute pic.