outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

Also, I seriously don't know what the deal is with what is going on with the WHO right now. I haven't been paying that much attention to them but they seem really problematic.

Not making a Keith Moon joke rn

newsreader pronounced it that way last week and now isnt the time but if we both make it through this im making it my business she never gets another job in this town

A possible peak into our dystopian future where we have to show our infections status passes.

https://www.techinasia.com/phones-qr-indispensable-beijing

The US government and various state governments within the US are not even close to being that organized for creating the kind of system described in that article. We US citizens shall be as free as sewer rats to scurry about and mingle as we please for quite a while yet.

the mask guidance has pissed me off because many of us repeated the "don't wear a mask unless you're sick" edict to our family and friends, and now health experts are realizing "hey if so many asymptomatic people are sick, why don't we have most people wear masks so they don't pass it on".

even my old friend, who is a doctor, shared a private article from one of the internal medical zines that her and other doctors subscribe to, and said "I was wrong in telling people not to wear masks".

I'm starting to feel less confident in sharing any advice now

My wife and I have isolated ourselves so effectively over the past five weeks that I am 98% certain we are not infected and are incapable of passing the virus along to others. But I would definitely wear a mask if I were advised that it would reduce my chances of becoming infected.

On NPR heard 2 segments of q and a with infectious disease experts, 1 national on All Things Considered and 1 local. They both still advising against wearing masks. National lady: it gives you a false sense of security, and many ppl do not wear them correctly. Wtf??? That's like saying hey don't wear a Kevlar vest in a war zone cause gives you false sense of security and you may put it on wrong. Local guy said don't wear them cause may cause those who truly need them to not have access. Which obv at least makes sense.

gives you a false sense of security

I'd say my powerful sense of insecurity is sufficiently strong to override any possible false sense of security that might arise from wearing a mask.

Asymptotic transmission. One wears a mask to be courteous/careful/polite to, and for others.

The presentation of mask wearers as paranoid nutters will soon end. In its place, will be an understanding that those who are wearing masks are trying in their way to not spread COVID-19, and despite social derision are small heroes of the current situation.

I still have 2 flat-pack (and unfitted) N95s (others given to more vulnerable in my circle). For the purpose of limiting aerosols transmission to others, a bandana folded over a piece of paper towel seems almost as useful.

And honestly, I'd look way better with a bandana mask than the white fish fin affixed to my face at the market.

But... hospitals and doctors are still desperately short on masks? Maybe this'll change within the next two weeks but it still looks pretty grim out there

holding out for the Banksy mask

You can't provide them with N95s, now. They're all competing for a limited supply, due to terrible communication from top levels, and guidance on sterilization etc. There were nurses going through 50 masks a shift until recently, endangering themselves with every change, just because their organizations weren't setting up COVID-19 wards and floors.

You can reduce the chance that you'll be an asymptomatic transmitter to people at the market or on transit. A bandana with a paper towel tossed in might not benefit a nurse much, but it can prevent you from exhaling a bronchial aerosol to others.

Masks are for the benefit of others.

You read some wild shit on this forum

Each member of my family has an N95 mask. We bought them a few years ago for a trip to San Francisco during a time when it was all smokey from brush fires. Now I regret choosing not to wear my mask when I traveled a couple weeks ago because I was convinced that wearing a mask was actively harmful if you were healthy, which of course makes zero sense.

This is the kind of frustration I feel with the guidance we receive. I'm the type of person where whatever the official CDC line is, I try to take it literally rather than reading between the lines or making inferences, even if deep down it doesn't make much sense and sounds closer to ass covering than useful advice.

Sanpaku feel free to cite some sources whenever

idk the provenance but this video on how home-made masks have taken off in the Czech Republic is interesting:

https://youtu.be/jZtEX2-n2Hc

A long but incandescent thread:

1. I've never had a hard time sleeping. But the past three nights I have slept a total of 3 hours. I'm writing this so I can sleep.

I am very angry. And I've realized during that having the space to be angry is a privilege because many people are too busy being terrified.

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 30, 2020

Think Sweden was mentioned upthread and there's an article on their high risk approach here:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/30/catastrophe-sweden-coronavirus-stoicism-lockdown-europe

xp, i don't object to the implication of that thread, but yasher ali is a #resist twitter grifter and that thread sounds like fiction not journalism.

i don't know the guy, but the language does feel like twitter drama and gives me a bad vibe

Huge 20x undercount of deaths in Wuhan? “Based on cremation figures, Wuhan residents estimate more than 40,000 have died, compared with an official toll of 2,535.” #COVID19. The numbers have never added up. Let’s go thru several analyses...
THREAD 🧵: https://t.co/B6OVHnCaiU

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) March 31, 2020

And more on the counts around the world:

Yet to hear of anywhere that's adjusting, manipulating or recording its mortality data except in a way that minimises it. The real toll is a variable factor worse. https://t.co/8jl8gu2V6n

— Tom (@attentive) March 29, 2020

One wears a mask to be courteous/careful/polite to, and for others.

I don't have a mask, I'm a disgraceful human being.

We (UK) have been doing that too but I think today they are going to release number of fatalities outside of hospitals (but only those tested I presume) xp

Ireland's fatalities have been going up in recent days, and the majority of them seem to be in nursing homes/care facilities :/

https://medium.com/@Cancerwarrior/covid-19-why-we-should-all-wear-masks-there-is-new-scientific-rationale-280e08ceee71

i think it's important to understand the importance of doing things that it's literally impossible for millions and millions of people to do right now. it really really helps.

Pretty much anyone can find a piece of cloth to tie around their mouth and nose.

Maybe Antifa can donate some bandanas

I feel like I work for Big Face Mask since we have been having this same conversation since January. Wear a face covering, people.

Ha, and I think Ed and I and Sanpaku were the same people trying to gently be like "Yeah, wear a face mask."

The thing about china and the cremation figures...that was coming up when the US was talking about blanket do not resuscitate orders. And what China had done instead. it's all bad.

I much prefer your approach to Sanpaku's, but that wouldn't be difficult.

When I was looking up best ways to sew masks (and now there are tons of good patterns on youtube) this was one nice study from 2013 examining using cotton ts, pillow cases, vacuum filters, etc. Just try to use 100% cotton if you have it.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258525804_Testing_the_Efficacy_of_Homemade_Masks_Would_They_Protect_in_an_Influenza_Pandemic

oh derp. that thing I originally posted with the facemask tutorials had a much nicer link about materials to use. https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/

in a pinch, I would probably use a cotton t shirt and make sure two layers covered my mouth/nose in public.

none of my handkerchiefs will tie round my face :D

I have a long lizard head, so same here.

your majesty *bows*

When we went to the hospital, the ER doctor told us we definitely don’t need N95 masks unless we’re infected. If you feel it’s necessary, a regular surgical mask or any kind of face covering is fine. I’m def pro people making their own masks instead of buying surgical masks.

The emerging left-wing view in France seems to be that masks should be made universally available, and that the Macron government has failed in not doing so. More masks, fewer cops, is the idea. I don't agree with the latter (no doubt putting me to the right of many on this message board), but the former seems evident. Macron today visited a mask factory near Angers, called for France to move to independence in mask production by the end of the year, and announced the allocation of 4 billion euros for financing the purchase of medicines, ventilators, and masks.

There's no one answer. I think universal mask wearing would slow the spread, but down below epidemic levels? Not by itself. You're still gonna have major outbreak unless you can quickly identify and isolate infected people. Universal masking STILL an extremely worthwhile goal.

https://i.redd.it/dsit8y2kngm41.png

gonna tell my kids this was Belle and Sebastian

Woman 4th from the left hasn't covered her nose, shoot her.

anyone else in the UK not seen any masks for sale and rarely seen anyone wearing them? saw two ppl in Tesco's wearing proper shaped ones. but not really even seen any messaging about them? I wear disposable gloves to shops but masks aren't really on the radar round here, it seems?

I saw quite a few people wearing them today, no idea where they got them though.

I have needles and thread and discardable cotton wearables in the home. Guess this is as good a time as any to learn how to sew properly.

haven't seen that many proper facemasks about here in my suburban bit of UK - more in the town centre, not that I'm heading into town much/at all lately, and most of the people I have seen wearing them have been (east) Asian

queuing for the shops at the weekend a few people had arranged a scarf in front of their face, though someone kept rearranging hers and it seemed to be only covering half her mouth at any given time, so that didn't seem enormously helpful tbh, but still more effort than I was making

(do you need to cover your nose or just your mouth? all the scarf-wearers were only covering their mouth, at best)

I haven't been doing gloves either since I have no disposable gloves and my winter gloves want hand-washed in cold water, whereas I'd want to give them a good hot soapy wash when I'm back

I don't really care about gloves since I wash my hands a lot.

I cover my mouth and nose and wear my glasses or sunglasses out to cover my eyes.

More than half of people have been wearing masks here. I am happy they finally got the cashiers gloves and masks at the large grocery store.

hundreds infected on us navy aircraft carrier