Till now my work only supplied cloth masks
Very thankful to capitalism for providing us with efficient production and distribution so that workers like me can stay safe :comfy:
What a beautiful story! I’m so glad to hear the Biden admin’s Covid initiative could help you out!
Yeah I bought a pack of n95 masks for cheap during February last year before the pandemic went worldwide. I knew what was going to happen and tried to prepare as best as my broke ass could. People laughed at me for thinking that Covid 19 would spread worldwide, and laughed at me for wearing a mask back in February 2020 before my country even knew we had covid cases present. Well unfortunately my doomer brain and predictions were right and I fucking hate it.
What was the transitional moment from "Damn looks like there's a virus over in China, hopefully it gets stamped out like SARS/Bird Flu/whatever" to "oh this is probably already here, and they definitely aren't going to stop it at this rate" for you? I had a moment of my own, but it was after there were already U.S. cases (so it was after March 1st). I had a friend mention it to me on the night of Bernie's Nevada win, and idk how you folks were so observant.
The moment for me was when the situation in Italy started getting out of control and lockdowns were being implemented there around early-mid Feb. It then clicked that if it was happening there, the same situation would happen in almost any country and I tried to prepare as best as possible. I remember seeing an article on new years day about a mysterious new virus from China and didn't think much of it. But after it hit Italy like that in the beginning, it set in for me that it's probably spread to most countries in the world by now.
Ah I was too busy tracking the Democratic primary like a :LIB: to notice what was happening in Italy. Like so many things it seems obvious now.
Yeah after reports came out at the same time that Italy and Spain estimated they had community spread since late December I went into full panic mode. Also due to a lack of data early on it seemed like the infection fatality rate was much higher than it actually is (it's still insanely high for such a transmissible disease) which didn't help at all.
But it felt like watching a train wreck or car crash in super slow motion and and not being able to do anything about it. The airports at my country did the whole "covid theatre" at the time with thermal imaging cameras which was useless because Covid was probably already spreading in the country at the time, and due to asymptomatic transmission. We needed to lock down and plan like Vietnam did but didn't.
But it felt like watching a train wreck or car crash in super slow motion and and not being able to do anything about it.
I definitely had the "stereotypical zombie movie" experience of background news reports and a general aura/mood of something going down in the background until everything went kinda wild. As soon as I was fully onboard with "this is real" (a bit behind you, but a bit ahead of the average American) the absolute tripping and stumbling and failure to make even the minimum amount of moves until it was a week late was total "slow motion car crash" mood.
in mid/early february of 2020 when the WHO was making a big fuss about NOT labeling covid a pandemic yet because it was too early
I was like, oh okay, this is gonna be fucking BAD huh?
I got so lucky that I have allergies - I bought a 10 pack a year before the pandemic to clean out my basement. I realized I still had them, and that they were n95 all along. I'm still reusing the same 6 that I didn't give to friends.
Yeah same. If they're getting a bit icky and you can't afford a replacement, you can sterilise them in a convection oven like in this YouTube video. Or even place them under your cars windshield if it's sunny outside. Also to make the n95s last longer (and look nicer too, if you're fashion conscious) you can wear a large fabric mask over it. These things have probably been life savers for me so far.
I had masks, 70% iso, and gloves when the pandemic started just because I grow mushrooms and need those regularly, so I always have a lot of them. That's a hobby that may have saved me from COVID.
It was hilarious watching the super bowl and seeing everyone with kn-95 masks, which of course were created in massive quantities by the Chinese economy in about six seconds after the pandemic started
meanwhile in america nurses are putting their n95s in the fucking oven for reuse
I do that with my n95s, but I'm not a fucking nurse in the richest country on earth. Holy shit the empire is really losing it now.
If it's any consolation the hospital I've worked with has not reused N95s and offers many different models for those with different face shapes.
Edit:KN95 do not offer the same protection as N95s
:amerikkka-clap:
meanwhile in Austria: only N95masks are allowed anywhere inside
Lol 90% of the people I see in my area are wearing hopelessly thin “masks” that are basically just pieces of fabric, if you hold them up you can see right through.
Also the other day I saw a woman wearing a face shield and no mask with it 😑
They're great for people who use sign language apparently, because mouth movements are needed
I mostly rely on lip reading, and it kills me that nobody will wear a clear mask. I can barely understand a word they say.
Americans have a serious mumbling problems and are impossible to understand.
my work has "uniform" masks with company logo so we can be advertising as we try to survive. we aren't allowed any others and they uniform masks are just a single layer of fucking cloth
Are you allowed to wear multiple layers of masks? Like a N95 with the company one above it.
Those ghouls would probably refuse due to the way a N95 has a raised surface, distorting their bullshit ad on the cloth mask.
Also consider wearing a cloth mask overtop of your N95
no way then I'd be stuffy and moist all day. I can barely manage with the cloth masks tbh, I have autism and adhd and good lord do masks make me fidget and squirm
I'm not looking the up because I'm tired but there has been a couple stats that indicate people with glasses have slightly less transmission rate
As a concern for taxing someone's lungs even further, I do not recommend adding more layers to your N95.
I fit test N95s for a living. The mask itself shouldn't be used for more than an 8 hour shift in general. If you have more specific N95 questions DM me.
They getting you fit tested for the masks as well?
lmao no, We get one one size fits all mask a week :agony-consuming:
edit: they're kn95's I didn't know there was a difference
Wait you are not actually fitted to it?? That's illegal in the US. DM me if you have any N95 questions (Source: I actually fit test for a living)
What does fitted to it even mean here? It's got the elastic strands that go around your ear and the piece of metal to form it to my nose, what do you mean though?
So with N95 masks there is a process the employer must go through to ensure that the mask is protecting you properly (either qualitative or quantitative) if you are in the US. I am not familiar with respirator standards outside the US. KN95S however do not meet the protective ratings of an N95 due to their construction, one of the reasons is the strap configuration (Ear loops vs two distinct head straps) . Due to the ear loop construction(and other issues) they do not offer the same protection as an N95 and are not recognized at a respirator.
From my experience they seem to have a better filter than conventional cloth masks and maybe slightly better than some surgical masks. But they will not pass extensive fit testing. So I mean, slightly better than a surgical mask? But certainly not an N95 Edit: is very much also depends on the fit to your face
Thanks for the info. I'm not in healthcare or retail, but have more exposure than I would like at work so we finally broke down and ordered some Bona Fide N95 and KN95 masks to see if they are any good. A study came out today that indicates regular folks have no idea if the fit on their mask is good even following the basic CDC guidelines and without a good fit they're no better than a cloth mask. LOL fuck.
Thankfully no lasting effects, at least nothing so obvious I've noticed it yet anyway. I had it quite mild, just was fatigued for a few weeks mostly
