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1996

Even if it reduces the risk of contamination from a direct "cough in the face" from 100% to 95%, when facing a disease with exponential progression, every little bit helps.

Perfection is the enemy of the good.

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So many people in both national media and social media parroting the info that masks which are not perfect or not perfectly fitted are worthless, when in reality a smaller viral load (such as a partially blocked cough or a percentage of droplets being blocked) can actually lead to lower mortality.

Hopefully less people hoard masks for no good reason.

Which is still dumb reason to lie. Especially when state can demand that official masks go to hospitals full stop.

People can make homemade masks. Here, women who have sewing machines are making them for everyone around.

I've been wearing a homemade mask when I go out to the grocery store. I think of it as a last line of defense if someone should cough in my direction. I know the virus is .02 microns but it's being carried in a droplet of liquid that's considerable larger and may get caught by the two layers of dish cloth with a sheet from an air filter between them. I sewed it to fit securely around my nose and mouth and it extends all the way around the sides of my face.

Actual paper comparing homemade masks said they were about 70-80% as effective as a commercial N95 mask. Both are equally effective at preventing you from touching your mouth and nose.

I've been wearing gloves... more as a reminder not to touch my face and to strongly scrub them when taking off said gloves before doing anything else.

Wearing gloves prevents you from washing hands often, that maybe could be more efficient.

I wash and disinfect my gloves often.

Interesting, I'd love to read that report if you can find the link again.

This is it.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/disaster-medicine-an...

Someone took that data and used it for this more accessible article.

https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-...

That second one is very practical, thank you!!

At the very least food handlers should have been wearing masks since the beginning of this. Before all the restaurants closed I didn't see any food handlers wearing masks.

It's common in China for food handlers including waitresses) to wear masks, and or a face shield.

I know China doesn't have their act together on many areas of health and sanitation. But we should adopt good practices and remove the stigma in the US that mask = bad.

Agreed. I think hand hygiene in the west is probably better (I’ve never seen anyone use hand sanitizer in China, and saw more people leaving the restroom without washing their hands - anecdotal) but China is definitely better about respiratory precautions. And certainly China acted much quicker than most western countries have in slowing the spread. From in-law family I have in China, there also were no food or home food shortages like there are in many western countries now for unclear reasons. Unclear if there is just lack of hoarding behavior or if the stores and/or government immediately restricted panic buying.

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