Another reminder: You can get N95 grade masks now.
Grainger industrial supply (as well as others) have masks meant for industry (not medical use) that are N95 material and rated.
Korean Kn95 masks have to pass some pretty rigorous test standards as well (and come in kiddo sizes for smaller faces as well).
Chinese “n95” masks… All I’ll say is that they do not have to pass testing standards for export, and given the prevalence of counterfeit merch from China… well… not something I’d be comfortable betting my health on.
We are facing a bit of a third wave here in Canada as well; not as bad, but our vaccination rollout has been slow and incompetent.
Those of us that could have a vaccine in a month or two are trying to tough it out, but it doesn’t mean that our sanity isn’t slipping a little bit at this point. For younger people that are facing an even longer wait it must be terrible.
There is also the massive disconnect between boomers, who in my experience tended to already have a pretty close knit social group, and younger generations that relied more on chance encounters and mingling for socializing.
So, I predict that we will be in a weird landscape of boomers that have made it through the pandemic, gen-x-ish people like myself that are just trying to avoid risk for the next 1-2 months now that we have pot-committed to good behavior for this long, and younger people that are probably well past the end of their rope all sharing the same public spaces.
I’d add that NIOSH tested industrial valved filtering face piece respirators (FFRs, aka N95s) and found that valved N95s are better at source control than surgical masks. This is because only some of the exhaled air goes through the small valve, the rest goes through the filter media. The cross section of the valve is smaller than the area of leak at the edges of surgical masks, which are not respirators and are not designed to fit tightly.
Of course, N95s work even better as source control if you cover them with another mask or just block the valves.
I’d also add that you can get high quality Korean made and certified KF94 masks that filter at or better than N95 standards right now. And there may be easier to get genuine KF94s than some other kinds of FFRs.
Aerosol scientist and engineer Aaron Collins has tested dozens of types of masks with his condensing particle counter and has results and supplier recommendations at his YouTube Channel.
When the valved ones were the only ones available, we kitted my (also Veterinarian) wife out with some and a cloth “over-mask”, but the ones we’ve been able to get recently have been pleated non-valved ones with a nice plastic mesh over the surface for durability, and a very good latex foam seal.
As someone who in the past has given the occasional side eye to people wearing valved N95s, I’m hoping to inform folks that new science says one shouldn’t give valved N95 wearers the side eye any more than one should folks wearing surgical or cloth masks†. Even so, I tape over the valves of my N95s since that makes them much better at source control.
I’ve not bought any non-valved N95s because the valved 8210Vs fit me, are very breathable even with the valves taped up, and pretty inexpensive as such masks go. And I don’t know if the nicely shaped, but nose wire-free, Moldex masks will fit me as well or be as breathable.
I like KF94s, and they can be as cheap as $1 each, but I’ve had to replace the nose wires with 1x5x90mm flat aluminum strips to get a stronger, more conforming fit at the nose bridge. And fit really matters if one wants to benefit from the higher filtration media.
† Valved elastomeric half-mask respirators are a different matter. They have double valves, so, unlike FFRs, none of the exhaled air goes through the filter media.
In the early days of 45 claiming “fake news”, I was shocked. This was new to me. There was zero attempt at plausibility. He just announced what he wanted his followers to believe, and they fell in line. The press secretaries made no attempt to make anything sound reasonable - they just shouted what they wanted their people to believe, and made no serious attempt to answer questions.
There are times - during peace and prosperity and stability - where this approach won’t veer too far into a ditch. Mostly. For a while. But when the shit hits the fan, a failure to face facts has real consequences.
But not for the liars. Their followers are still being successfully told what to believe. And it chills me.
And this is exactly why he is saying we are headed for another surge. As we do, here are my major concerns: 1) The new variants are considerably more contagious, so “superspreader events” will be much more effective. 2) They also seem to be more dangerous for young people, you know, the ones completely unvaccinated, unable to be vaccinated before, probably, early next year. 3) Covid fatigue, ie “I am just done with this shit,” is understandably widespread, but is being encouraged by supporters of a certain recently deposed would-be emporer.
These factors add up to potential for still snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. And, like all of you, I am sooo damned tired of fighting it. But, “Once more, into the breach, dear friends.” Sigh. (Masks up and heads in.)
Well, yeah, of course there’s another wave, it’s starting right on schedule, as predicted by the same people who’ve been most accurate at predicting the past waves and trends. People (officials and the public) make bad decisions because wereally don’t understand how anything works, and what consequences different decisions will have, and they’re definitely not thinking in terms of anything like a cost-benefit analysis. If they were, we’d have had saner, more targeted policies and choioce-making all along, and less pandemic fatigue now.
The good news is that vaccines are very effective at making sure you don’t die of covid even if you do manage to still get it, even (a few weeks) after the first dose, and the 150 million doses already administered have largely been targeted at the people most likely to die, so (as expected) we’re seeing death rates among the infected drop rapidly. This will continue as we get further past the vaccine dose and appointment bottlenecks. A surge in cases will lead to unnecessary covid deaths, yes, but will also lead to more herd immunity faster, so if other people want to be stupid…at this point, they’re causing a lot less harm to others by doing so.
So if you’re in a vulnerable group and not yet vaccinated for any reason: now’s the time to double down on precautions for just another month or two. And encourage everyone you can, especially anyone who hasn’t had covid, to get vaccinated ASAP.
If you were first-dose vaccinated more than 2 weeks ago and won’t put vulnerable people at risk if you manage to get infected anyway: it’s reasonable to start start doing more things.
I feel like people that are vaccinated or have at least one shot are starting to act like magnets and are drawing not-yet-vaccinated people out into social situations. I myself ended up doing a backyard hang with three friends, all of them with one shot so far, even though I’ve yet to get an appointment. I hadn’t hung out with any of them since the pandemic began. We ended up inside for a bit (with the door open) and all I could think about later was “why was I there when, hopefully, in 3 months I’ll be fully vaccinated and better protected/less likely to potentially infect others.” My own fault I know but it’s starting to feel like people are being less careful when we should just be a little more patient. For my part I learned my lesson and ain’t doing shit until I get my shots.
Arizona based here; while all the official data from the state’s department of health says we are leveling off, based on Gov. Douche’s proclamation of lifting restrictions back on the 25th has emboldened the rat-lickers and dick-noses* in my local area. I also suspect a large amount of people who are all sick and tired of being cooped up, and feel like they don’t mind dying because the vaccine is being rolled out, despite the fact that we have the same shortages as everyone else.
I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing a spike in a couple weeks as well, and then we’ll be back to where we were three months ago.
*By which I mean, “would you lick a rat to see if it has the Plague?” aka ‘put the mask on to get past the door patrol and promptly took it off’ and people who don’t cover their noses with masks.
I got the Moderna vaccine on Tuesday, and the next shot later this month is scheduled. So that is good. My ex is looking to get it next week. So hopefully I can hug my kid in a few months. But I don’t plan to be around people any more than I am now. At least for awhile.
Michigan is scary because we’re still being shorted vaccine doses (because our governor is That Woman) and by state guidelines, under-50’s aren’t qualified until Monday (so, north of half the adult population). Oh, and it’s spring break, so the spike is only going to get worse as selfish bastards travel out of state to places like Florida and bring varient strains back home.
