More complicated than I thought.
Never knew about N, R and P classifications. Had heard of N95 but not N99 or N100. I’ve got some P2 masks (excludes >=2 micron-sized particles) which I just discovered are also called N95. These were to help cope with bushfire smoke, but apparently they’re not particularly good even at that:
A spokesperson for the NSW Health reiterated that concern.
“P2 face masks can filter out most PM2.5. However, evidence suggests they may not work in practice as they require an extremely good fit.”
“This is difficult for people to achieve outside of an occupational setting where they can be properly fit-checked.”
Cowie says a mask is “not the best public health measure that we can offer”.
Source
Now I need to find out whether the N95 needs an "extremely good fit".
People here aren't rushing to purchase masks / respirators. Yet.
I share Chris Martenson’s distrust of institutions and I congratulate him on his crash course. My mistrust, I confess, extends to gold salespeople and “preppers.”
I don’t understand what sort of people hear (about 4 and a half minutes into the six minute rant video posted above) about millions of Americans dying if a virus gets to America, and respond by discussing where to buy masks. I just don’t. Pogo was right.
Other things I don’t understand: the lack of heavy carbon taxes, the lack of a wealth tax, the election of trump, the GOP Senate, the explosion of homelessness on the streets of America’s temperate-zone cities, the continued existence of cigarette factories. The only thing that I can think of that ties them all together is human selfishness and greed, as exhibited in countries that have enabled people to become more wealthy and complacent than human beings are capable of handling. And I feel a great confidence that people who think they can protect themselves from that with a mask are people I never want to meet.
quite good as my farm isn’t isolated. Good people who are inexperienced with a bucolic existence presuppose us agrarians are like the inbred folk from “deliverance”.
I would always rather live, well fed, to share, and if necessary defend. Am also sure you meant your comments in kindness.
And I feel a great confidence that people who think they can protect themselves from that with a mask are people I never want to meet.
Yeah yeah we get it! consider your virtue successfully signaled . I may not like Trump, Corporate greed and all the other manifestion of a profoundly sick system but I get why he was elected. I’ve also paid enough attention that I equally dislike both sides of the legislature. They are after all symptoms of the same sickness.
but you don’t understand why people here are interested in the potential to prevent themselves from getting sick and possibly dieing in the face of a potential pandemic using face masks?
How about seatbelts? Does wearing those represent a moral failing as well, given that the world is filled with greedy Republicans and evil corporate overlords?
mm
Nothing said here has made out this virus to be like " The Stand" more like we dont have resistance to it, so if exposed, we could all catch it, and the more volnurable could die.
What is wring with making sure to have medicines and canned soup at home to make it thru it ? This is not some kind of overall post apopalyptic isolationism, just the fact, and I had a different bad flu this year, sicker than I have been in decades, so, yes, the fact is that you arent going anywhere if that sick and you need a way to think of how to get yourself and your household thru it. With the added gotcha that most others around you could have the same problem, so not have enough staffing at stores, pharmacies, hospitals, etc… So you may not be able to just have the one healthy person, if you have one, go out and get stuff.
So, here, we are reminded to what we are supposed to be doing all along, and make sure to think about how to get thru such illness at home
This kind of thinking is not throwing neighbors under the bus or not caring, it is actually trying to make sure that we do not overburden, so in that sense, it makes the whole situation for everyone else better if an epidemic hits in that we wont be wondering what to do and clogging up the doctors office unneccessarily ( until it looks like pneumonia, of course) and not having to go to the store while sick and contagious because we already have some juice and asprin(or nsaid of choice) at home. That is HELPING our fellow community members, not hindering them ! We are also more likely to HELP a neighbor if we think we can safely hand them something thru the door without either spreading what we have or catching what they do !
Where do you get this armed farm issolationism anyways ? New here maybe ?
The only presumption I made is that to protect oneself and one’s family from a pandemic, one needs to be isolated.
But, really, my point is more about my own recurring question – why would I want to continue living, given the society we have built, especially if it goes in the anticipated direction. While I’m still here, as a social creature in a destructive society, I feel bound up in the fate of that society, and I’m not entirely clear there is much point to existing once I’ve convinced myself completely of the nature of the society of which I’m part. That’s not the ponderings of a sophomore, but of a possibly sophomoric 60+. I stick around for now because my husband needs my support to cope with his widowed mother.
And, yes, thank you, my view is great.
Then enjoy your life protecting your family at your armed and isolated farmstead. I’d rather be dead.
What a strange view to hold. First it badly mischaracterizes what is being said around here.
Second, taking it at face value, I consider it a selfish position to hold.
We don't get to choose to live though a pandemic, only how we conduct ourselves. Because some 93% of people survive getting the virus (so far, data may change) I think it's very much well worth effort of being among them.
The single best response it to not get the virus at all, which is totally a preventable thing for people who can introduce some basic hygiene principles into their lives.
Once you become sick or dead, you are now a drain on the system. For people who inadvertently, and despite best efforts, get sick anyways, hey we've got you> It happens.
But what about people who throw up their hands and declare that they want no part of this situation and decide to take no actions? Well, I'm clear on this. That's an irresponsible and self-oriented position to take. Almost anti-social from my standpoint.
By the way, if/when this arrives on your shores where ever that may be, and you have decided on some principle to *not* wear a face mask out in public, you will discover that you are very much in the minority and will receive massive social pressure to either get with it or get away from everyone.
In closing, my tolerance for unhelpful posts that toss passive-aggressive insults, or claim to "hold the high ground" by virtue of the poster somehow holding the "correct" and true position on the matter (despite having the same or less information as well all share) is going to be very low for the duration of this crisis.
This is going to require steady hands, rapid adaptation to new information, and the ability to check one's emotions and triggers at the door.
Thank you.
I stick around for now because my husband needs my support to cope with his widowed mother.
She seems very depressed to me. She doesn’t seem to have a lot to live for. I’m concerned she’s been contemplating suicide. All it would take would be one big setback (like corona virus striking her community, or the death of her mother in law) and she might take that step. I’d like to help, or see her recover some purpose and joy in life.
I think you should talk to someone close to you, if not yoru husband, who is busy with his mother, a friend or other family member. I am concerned that you are saying that, having nothing to do with the new virus, that in general you do not see that lif is worht living.
There is so much beauty. So many things of value to persue.
Take 10 minutes this morning and go for a walk, and if you live in a built up area ( not alot of nature around) raise your gaze to the sky, the limitless beauty, wehter cloudy or sunny. Get your heart pumping and muscles working, at least for this 10 minutes.
Do not look at any TV or computer links, news, social media ALL DAY. Keep the phone on for needed communication from family, of course.
If you dont already do so, take up a hobby of some kind of hand work you can pick up and put down easily while helping in your situation, crochet, hand sewing, etc… Or just the crosswords !
If a movie seems to be wanted or needed, pick an old classic, pre 1970, no other media !
Play music you like, Make music if you can
Article dated 1/26/20, allowing time for a quick escape and/or other preparations. [edit, bold added]
“The city of Shantou on the southern coast of China in Guangdong province has announced it will be the first outside of Hubei province to go on lockdown.
That means no individual, vehicle or boat will be allowed to entering the city beginning on January 27. What’s different here is that Hubei cities are preventing people from leaving; in Shantou, they’re baring them from entering.
The choice of this city is extremely concerning. There are only 2 confirmed cases there and many are speculating this is a sign that the entire country is about to be put on lockdown. While that would be economically devastating in the short-term, it would be China’s best chance of halting the spread of the virus.” https://www.forexlive.com/news/!/a-city-1000km-from-wuhan-just-declared-a-full-lockdown-20200126