Coronavirus: Face masks not recommended for healthy individuals, but essential ....

I've edited the title to reduce the inherent double speak that sticks to this.
It's like telling healthy people it's ok to eat only properly cooked bats ,
because the sick people only drank the soup.

Or telling a skydiver that parachutes are overrated and optional ...

Do you need to wear a mask ....?
If you're well, and are not caring for a person
with COVID-19, the answer is probably no.....!?

While protecting yourself from coronavirus is key
to helping slow its spread, face masks are not
recommended for healthy members of the general public.
If you are in mandatory quarantine in Australia,
you are required to wear a surgical face mask if:
You need to leave your home for any reason and
will be in public places.

We don't have the supply chain for everyone to
have them, and the hospitals need them," he said.
Healthcare workers are required to wear face
masks to protect themselves from infectious
illnesses to stop the spread of the disease.

www.abc.net.au...

So the bottom line is you don't need them because …
we don't have enough...

.. now searching DIY masks

a reply to: radarloveguy

そですね　

I don’t mean to derail your OP, but I do have, what I think might be a useful suggestion.

A lot of people are using (latex) gloves when shopping to avoid touching potentially contaminated surfaces.

But such gloves are part of the PPE ensemble needed desperately by medical personnel and first responders.

Since most people don’t really need the fine dexterity provided by a glove, I suggest that we use regular plastic sandwich-type bags as “protective mittens”.

They are relatively cheap. They are disposable. They are available. They are waterproof.

And best of all, their use does not compete with the limited supplies of rubber gloves.

The quart size easily fits my large hands.

You can even secure them to your wrists using rubber bands.

a reply to: radarloveguy

You might like this salt-treated surgical mask study from 2017:

Universal and reusable virus deactivation system for respiratory protection

I have a friend that's a nurse. She's been using a single salt coated mask for a 12 hour shift...and having to reuse it, again and again. Her hospital is out of masks.

So far, so good.

Amazing fail
the most vulnerable part of our body to this virus and no recommendation's to protect it.

a reply to: Bhadhidar

Gloves are pointless..... contaminates stay on gloves longer than skin.........

a reply to: SeektoUnderstand

After a while 60+ alcohol does a number on your skin
gloves are a useful barrier

a reply to: all2human

Just be hygienic and use common sense or else this would have already crippled the world

I work fo a essential company. I still have n95 masks for a week or so. Company trying to find more.

Wife is professional seamstress, besides othe skills. She'll make masks at home. Better than walk around uncovered.

I wear extra thick gloves all the time. I have a box in my car, not touching carts at grocery stores but still a chance of inter contamination every time you push the cart and grab an item. Throw the gloves in the garbage at parking lot trash can before driving home.

Also wearing safety glasses on top of prescription glasses. Washing both glasses several times a day.

Nobody will tell me to do all that or no. I have asthma and I won't be an easy target.

This is a survival situation folks, face it and deal with it the best you can.

originally posted by: SeektoUnderstand
a reply to: Bhadhidar

Gloves are pointless..... contaminates stay on gloves longer than skin.........

Not pointless. Change them after the gloves were exposed. I use like a whole box a day.

originally posted by: Trueman

originally posted by: SeektoUnderstand
a reply to: Bhadhidar

Gloves are pointless..... contaminates stay on gloves longer than skin.........

Not pointless. Change them after the gloves were exposed. I use like a whole box a day.

I use 10 pairs of gloves a day and wash them on the weekends .
Also buy hand sanitiser by the litre. $7 from discount

a reply to: SeektoUnderstand

You dispose of the latex gloves after finishing at the store but prior to reentering your vehicle. In no way are they pointless.

originally posted by: MotherMayEye
a reply to: radarloveguy

You might like this salt-treated surgical mask study from 2017:

Universal and reusable virus deactivation system for respiratory protection

I have a friend that's a nurse. She's been using a single salt coated mask for a 12 hour shift...and having to reuse it, again and again. Her hospital is out of masks.

So far, so good.

I don't remember if the first post I read about salt was yours, but I've been letting everyone I know about that technique. How this was described as working makes perfect sense to me. Thanks, and keep plugging the salt masks, it's vital information to have.

originally posted by: Bhadhidar
A lot of people are using (latex) gloves when shopping to avoid touching potentially contaminated surfaces.

Which is funny, because they are touching everything they bring home with those gloves, cross contaminating everything, which they will then bring home.

originally posted by: SeektoUnderstand
a reply to: Bhadhidar

Gloves are pointless..... contaminates stay on gloves longer than skin.........

That's not the point. The crucial difference is that gloves provide a barrier to the virus landing on the skin where it can be transferred to the respiratory tract.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04

originally posted by: Bhadhidar
A lot of people are using (latex) gloves when shopping to avoid touching potentially contaminated surfaces.

Which is funny, because they are touching everything they bring home with those gloves, cross contaminating everything, which they will then bring home.

But that could happen if they did not wear gloves! At least the gloves provide a barrier. Rather virus on gloves than on skin where it can be transferred to the respiratory tract.

It's like this.

Hospital staff, including doctors and nurses, are being asked to reuse single-use ppe (like n95 masks) because they don't have and can't get enough.

philadelphia.cbslocal.com...

fox59.com...

If enough doctors and nurses get sick with COVID19 and go down, who will treat trauma patients and other non-COVID19 patients?

Hence, the need to deemphasize n95 masks for healthy, non-symptomatic people so frontline providers will have access.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04

originally posted by: Bhadhidar
A lot of people are using (latex) gloves when shopping to avoid touching potentially contaminated surfaces.

Which is funny, because they are touching everything they bring home with those gloves, cross contaminating everything, which they will then bring home.

I wear gloves whenever I am bringing anything delivered into my home. Everything gets decontaminated, then left to sit for 48 hours,unless it needs to go in the fridge.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04

originally posted by: Bhadhidar
A lot of people are using (latex) gloves when shopping to avoid touching potentially contaminated surfaces.

Which is funny, because they are touching everything they bring home with those gloves, cross contaminating everything, which they will then bring home.

If they're that stupid, they probably can't figure out how to get gloves out of the box, let alone on their hands.

An understanding of the levels of protection offered by different masks and an understanding of how to perform a risk assessment is required.