I live in Brooklyn and I'd love to wear a mask. I'd love to have been wearing a mask every day for the past two weeks.
But where exactly do you suggest I find one since they're sold out literally everywhere, and we're also getting advice not to wear them so they can be saved for healthcare professionals!
You ought to reexamine your assumptions. We love masks but don't have any.
Sheesh.
Paper masks are in shortage in Vietnam but that doesn't stop people from wearing big respirator kits or cloth masks that they rotate out.
> Professional and Home-Made Face Masks Reduce Exposure to Respiratory Infections among the General Population
This is true but irrelevant.
You want to catch larger globs that carry virus-sized particles, and almost any material will help to some extent with this.
Still, it might work if you did a radical pleat. I'll try it.
As I recall, two layers of cotton t-shirt is the best option.
But radial is a great idea. And as soon as I started playing with paper, the ancient muscle memory of folding filter paper came back to me.
Edit: OK, I used filter paper from a shop vac, 20 cm wide by 30 cm high, with six faces triangular faces on the top and bottom, and eight faces on the sides. The ends of the faces on each side are sewed together, with an elastic strap connecting them. So the base is a diamond, ~18 cm wide and ~12 high. There's cloth edging on the top and bottom, and a cloth-wrapped 1 cm x 5 cm strip of aluminum edging to seal the top of the nose.
Literally some paper towel, wire, and rubber bands [1].
If you're willing to break out a needle and thread you can make a durable cloth one. [2] [3]
> we're also getting advice not to wear them so they can be saved for healthcare professionals!
AFAIK, surgical-quality sterilizing masks are separate from what you'd probably find in the store; you're not pulling from the same stock.
(Though I seem to recall some charity effort of people sewing masks for doctors, so IDK what the actual U.S. healthcare regulations are.)
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNjpH5lBZ8w (University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital)
[2] https://nypost.com/2020/03/20/doctors-are-now-running-out-of...
[3] https://www.deaconess.com/How-to-make-a-Face-Mask
EDIT: "Sheesh"
Well, that’s the reason they are sold out, and heath professionals are desperately asking for donations.
You don’t need a mask unless you are sick. For protection you need a mask and glasses, but keeping your hands clean and away from your face does 95% of the job.
Except you do, because carriers without symptoms are contagious and the main drivers of this pandemic.
And no, coronavirus doesn't have wings, they are carried by water droplets, and any sort of barrier that can stop water droplets is better than no barrier at all.