Make sure they fit you, and your family. Get different types / sizes.
You won't be able to buy them -- anywhere -- once media organizations start reporting on an outbreak.
Don't tell anyone you have them.
Ignore people who don't think this is worth worrying about. People are stupid.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
HN is a community. Users needn't use their real name, but do need to have some consistent identity for others to relate to. Otherwise we may as well have no usernames and no community at all, and that would be a very different kind of forum. There are legit uses for throwaways, just not routinely. Lots more explanation: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme...
To the extent that I sometimes wonder if someone out there is going a bit too systematically about it.
(I made a change to the HN moderation software that caused it to start escaping characters it shouldn't, and haven't fixed the bug yet.)
The second time in 2009 with H1N1’s outbreak, we ran out of masks in a couple of hours.
Situations like that made me realize how vulnerable our societies can be in big events.
This is how you get fit tested in hospitals. I'll also add that n95 masks are considered overkill for influenza (but not SARS, TB, measles, varicella aka chickenpox).
Also, get your flu shot every year! Even if it isn't optimized against the antigens on this years virus it is like a brick in a wall your immune system builds up over time against a variety of influenza variations.
The one thing I realized quickly was that I could not take the mask off without completely f-ing up the sterile field created by the mask. Outside of the mask smeared all over my face, outside of the mask hitting me in the eye as my glasses got hung up, etc.
If you can't doff an N95 correctly, keeping the exterior of the mask from your hand, facial skin, and mucous membranes, they won't actually block anything viral or bacterial.
Gave me a whole additional level of appreciation for the doctors and medical professionals working with Ebola patients couple years back and a greater understanding of why they fell ill despite what seemed to be bulletproof PPE.
Touching with the mouth, eyes, and/or nostrils with your contaminated hand is substantial source of respiratory virus infections.
People touch their face an average of 3 - 4 times per hour, and common objects an average of 3 times per hour. In some kind of sitting office work it can be 10-15 times per hour.