221–230 of 298 posts
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I'm enjoying the thought of software engineers everywhere coming into work with bandanas covering their faces.
Why would they not remote work?
I've only read the abstract, and it seems to clearly say that the virus can get to the brain via the lungs. So I have no idea what people ITT are on about regarding purposeful infection or masks for prevention. Regardless, this abstract also does not explain the mildness of the disease except for the immunocompromised and elderly, which to me renders the link between how you get the infection and fatality a bit suspi…
If you read more than the abstract, it explains that animals that are infected nasally have much higher rates of brain infection than the fecal-oral route of infection. Edit: changed "oral/fecal" to "fecal-oral," thanks calmworm. Also removed a period.
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The rates in China are dropping because they have some form of travel restrictions for 780m people. If those restrictions would be removed, the rates would go up immediately as seen before and now in other countries. Edit: source added https://inews.co.uk/news/world/china-coronavirus-covid-19-de...
Is there any reason to believe other countries won’t institute travel restrictions if they get a ton of cases? My point is that based on how many die from the flu each year, you’d have to see 130,000 deaths in China for the impact to be the same as the flu.
Check out Spanish Flu for worst case scenario.
China restrictions have been much more stringent than what you imply. People in Wuhan were prevented from leaving their apartments at all and needed to wait for food from the government.
The jury is still out whether softer forms of restrictions can work once the disease is widespread. We will see about that by watching South Korea and Italy. (We know it works if there are not too many cases around, like in Singapore.)
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Yes, only a N95 or better mask would protect you from incoming, as opposed to outgoing, viruses, and these masks are both impractical for everyday wear and need to be conserved for public health users.
I'm not sure I would call them impractical for everyday wear. I wear N95 masks when commuting during active wildfires. The news always says not to wear them because you won't put them on properly, but it's really not that hard to ensure the fitment is correct. It's not like the construction workers that wear them occupationally are rocket scientists. My partner is more vulnerable to respiratory problems and has alway…
Yes, we wear n95, but we also get OSHA/niosh specific training on fitment, changing, PPE exposure limit, and appropriate environments. You do not. What people are hoping is that an industrial particulate mask is going to somehow prevent the flu or corona, which honestly I have never understood. Wearing a mask while pressure cleaning a paccar12 engine? Yes, you don't want fine grease mist in your lungs. Powder coating something? Better mask up. Wearing it for a fire? Yes, but change it out once or twice a day and check it often. The flu? How?
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I will argue this is wrong: Only N95 or better masks have studies proving their effectiveness. I don't think we have good data on weaker masks or even "home made" masks- It's totally possible they are also effective, with proper technique. Please somebody show me data that proves otherwise, I'm totally open to it. (Note: I'm not saying I want you to post opinions from people in authority, I'm saying I want to see dat…
No, there is a 2009 study which compares N95 mask efficiency with surgical masks, because they predict that during a pandemic N95 masks will be in shorter supply. (1) They don't find significantly more efficiency for N95 masks, but other studies do find N95 masks slightly better. (2) (1) https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/184819 (2) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1750-2659... Do a s…
[1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258525804_Testing_t...
[2] https://twitter.com/chaiclate/status/1232972182667612162?s=2...
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Even N95 masks are not fully sufficient. They typically block particles at 0.3 microns or larger, but coronaviruses tend to be smaller, around 0.1 - 0.3 microns. You need an ASTM Level 2 or higher surgical mask to block coronavirus from completely penetrating the mask. That said, any mask is better than no mask, first because it prevents you touching your mouth and nose with potentially infected hands, and second bec…
Hmm. Based on what I read, particles smaller than 0.3 microns have a widely "wandering" path of travel through the mask fibers on account of Brownian motion. My understanding was that 0.3 micron particles are the size that the N95 mask is least effective at blocking. Smaller particles are blocked more effectively, not less, until you get down to a scale so small that you pretty well exclude live biological material.…
Particles smaller in size than 0.3 microns will have HIGHER capture efficiency.
This is similar for HEPA filtration as well.
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Yes, only a N95 or better mask would protect you from incoming, as opposed to outgoing, viruses, and these masks are both impractical for everyday wear and need to be conserved for public health users.
I think that different sources are using different definitions of "effective" here. If a simple surgical mask cuts down transmission rates by 50% that isn't anywhere near good enough for health workers working with sick patients every day. But it might still make a significant improvement in your chances of getting infected and, combined with social distancing, might drop the R0 below 1. Hence why Chinese and Korean…
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Yes, only a N95 or better mask would protect you from incoming, as opposed to outgoing, viruses, and these masks are both impractical for everyday wear and need to be conserved for public health users.
I think that different sources are using different definitions of "effective" here. If a simple surgical mask cuts down transmission rates by 50% that isn't anywhere near good enough for health workers working with sick patients every day. But it might still make a significant improvement in your chances of getting infected and, combined with social distancing, might drop the R0 below 1. Hence why Chinese and Korean…
Surgical masks are meant to protect surgery patients from the medical staff and the droplet-encased germs they emanate. N95 masks are meant to protect the wearer from particulate matter (harmful dust) in the air, specifically those particles over 30 microns. SARS-CoV02 is roughly half the size, so as an aerosolized virion, as opposed to droplet-suspended virions, they may have limited effect. N95 masks also often come with exhalation valve releases to improve inhalation fit - so exhalation pressure does not break the seal around the sides. A sick person wearing a mask with a valve that releases right in front of their mouth may be better than no mask, but it is a potential bypass for droplet suspended virions.
The US just doesn't have the culture where everyone puts on masks during flu season, like some places (HK for one), and that level of herd usage is really what might be likely to slow transmission to a breakable rate.
As a side observation: most reporting seems rather binary, i.e. you either die or survive, period. What interests me the most, however, is how often survival means full recovery, especially now that the nervous system comes up. Are there any long term effects? Should one generally expect to come out of it worse, the same, or stronger? I'm much less afraid to die from this than to end up with chronic respiratory and/o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndr...
There were plenty of them that still remember the residual effects of SARS, resulting in bone loss and other symptoms.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, only a N95 or better mask would protect you from incoming, as opposed to outgoing, viruses, and these masks are both impractical for everyday wear and need to be conserved for public health users.
I think that different sources are using different definitions of "effective" here. If a simple surgical mask cuts down transmission rates by 50% that isn't anywhere near good enough for health workers working with sick patients every day. But it might still make a significant improvement in your chances of getting infected and, combined with social distancing, might drop the R0 below 1. Hence why Chinese and Korean…
I suspect that even a spare cotton t-shirt material affixed over the face would stop a significant amount of droplets from transmitting.
It would be worth researching the effectiveness improvised masks, at the very least.