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Why N95 masks are hard to make

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11–20 of 363 posts

Re: Why N95 masks are hard to make

#11
post #6

This is the price we pay for outsourcing our manufacturing capabilities. We should have kept in-house manufacturing alive, there is plenty of capacity for it here in the States.

Is there any reason to think that had that kind of manufacturing skills remained in the US that the situation would be better?

The claim is that China is hoarding N95 masks at least according to NYTimes. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/business/masks-china-coro...

Re: Why N95 masks are hard to make

#12

Surgical and homemade masks are much better than nothing. And by better than nothing we mean reasonably effective. Going into close contact with a person who has a known transmissible respiratory illness? N95 is minimum if you are a professional. And get your union to scream bloody murder if you are not allowed this essential safety equipment, and put complaints in writing so your heirs can later sue to oblivion. Try…

Surgical and homemade masks are much better than nothing.

/Thats basically a misinformation. They are completely useless, and if you dont change them each 40-50 minutes - bring you more damage then good

Re: Why N95 masks are hard to make

#13
I do believe these masks are also made in the US, but this situation highlights exactly why a country having its own major manufacturing base is not just an economic need but rather also a national security need. The US needs to invest in itself immediately to rebuild its lost manufacturing base.

In economic terms, under certain definitions and assumptions that are typical under modern economics, a trade war such as the current US-China trade war result in welfare losses. I believe, however, that when national security is taken into account (ie having the ability for the country to rapidly respond to productive capacity needs in a time of crisis), the trade war along with serious investment in expanding industrial capacity is likely net good.

Re: Why N95 masks are hard to make

#14
post #4

> China now makes 200 million face masks a day — more than twenty times the amount it made at the start of February. That’s an insane number of masks. Does one in seven Chinese wear a fresh one every day ? Is this gonna be the new normal?

> Does one in seven Chinese wear a fresh one every day?

China doesn't hoard masks, but sends them to various countries that have been hit hard.

(EDIT: and I see the downvotes, and cringe inside that even humanitarian aid is seen as a valid target for anti China hate)

Re: Why N95 masks are hard to make

#15
post #4

> China now makes 200 million face masks a day — more than twenty times the amount it made at the start of February. That’s an insane number of masks. Does one in seven Chinese wear a fresh one every day ? Is this gonna be the new normal?

Is that surprising? You're not supposed to reuse them, so they're good for at most one day. If you work from home you might only need them for a couple of days a week, but if you're working you'll be going through multiple daily.

Re: Why N95 masks are hard to make

#16
post #5

This is the price we pay for outsourcing our manufacturing capabilities. We should have kept in-house manufacturing alive, there is plenty of capacity for it here in the States.

That's complete and utter bullshit. There is not enough capacity to make N95 masks. China retooled entire factories to make enough just for their outbreak. There's a global shortage of N95 masks. Maybe save your nativism until we're done with this.

Breaking the site guidelines like this will get you banned, regardless of how wrong another commenter is or you feel they are. No more of this, please.

Your comment would be fine without the first and last sentences.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Why N95 masks are hard to make

#17

Surgical and homemade masks are much better than nothing. And by better than nothing we mean reasonably effective. Going into close contact with a person who has a known transmissible respiratory illness? N95 is minimum if you are a professional. And get your union to scream bloody murder if you are not allowed this essential safety equipment, and put complaints in writing so your heirs can later sue to oblivion. Try…

Surgical and homemade masks are much better than nothing. /Thats basically a misinformation. They are completely useless, and if you dont change them each 40-50 minutes - bring you more damage then good

"masks are completely useless"

That is entirely false and you are posting damaging unscientific misinformation that harms people.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190903134732.h...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440799/

Nice you could create a brand new just created account just to shitpost though, thanks for such effort to harm people. Why not post using your real HN account instead?

Re: Why N95 masks are hard to make

#19

I made a dozen good homemade masks in a few hours, and I am inept at sewing. With some practice I could make 200 a day. There's no point to doing so, it would be illegal for me to sell them. US is doing nothing whatsoever to ramp up mask or ventilator production. It's going to result in a lot of deaths.

Of a material that is sufficient to meet the standards of N95 masks?

Re: Why N95 masks are hard to make

#20

I made a dozen good homemade masks in a few hours, and I am inept at sewing. With some practice I could make 200 a day. There's no point to doing so, it would be illegal for me to sell them. US is doing nothing whatsoever to ramp up mask or ventilator production. It's going to result in a lot of deaths.

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