If the guy is in the UK he'll need more than a mask to save him.

He is not in the UK - he is in Australia, since Bretrick saw him at work.

I suspect you are right, with COVID cases rising in most jurisdictions around the globe, the US to spend upwards of $US 5 Billion on developing vaccines for emerging variants and India already experiencing a deadly new strain we have not seen the end to this virus.

I'm getting my 5th injection next week, was to have been last week but they ran out due to increasing demand, this despite out Chief Medical Officer proclaiming that we have 90% plus "hybrid" immunity across the population.

Ive had my 5th one recently too kaygee.

Also where I work , same.

Ive been working an extra day a week to keep up with demand for flu vaccines and Covid boosters.

I doubt anyone wearing a mask is expecting ONLY the mask to save him

Wearing a mask is no big deal, hardly the most difficult thing to do. I wore one for years all day ,every day at work in an operating theatre.

I would much rather wear a mask than a shroud.

There are countless studies on the efficacy of masks but why let the truth in the way of propaganda ?
www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&...PCbsK1fHDdctyrC-UMcL

I would really strongly encourage hospitals to stop asking people to send them cloth masks and instead asked for respirators

that is the final sentence in the article.

yes I'm sure we all agree respirators, or surgical quality masks, like N95, are best - but not practical for all the population to pay for single use surgical quality masks

Places like medical centres did provide them for staff.

but any level mask was better than none

Vegemite Kid wrote:

I would really strongly encourage hospitals to stop asking people to send them cloth masks and instead asked for respirators

that is the final sentence in the article.

yes I'm sure we all agree respirators, or surgical quality masks, like N95, are best - but not practical for all the population to pay for single use surgical quality masks

Places like medical centres did provide them for staff.

but any level mask was better than none

As always "medicine" is a mass of endless contradictions both intended & not intended.
At one point we were advised not to wear a mask ( yes really ) then to wear x and then to wear y & the list rolled on & on to the point that amongst the many other misleading advice from various sources including Governments - the ones that we would hope that we could believe... people are sick of it, most anyway.

I still recall & you may laugh, a time when masks and face shields were nigh on impossible to obtain for many in society. Even as late as last year I offered PPE to certain hospital staff who could not find what they were searching.

And right back at the beginnings of Covid we had people making masks out of PAPER including cut A4 & certain type of 'tissue' Laugh as you may there were simply no other alternatives for some at that point. Similarly face shields were styled out of 2 litre PET 4 bottles & were certainly as effective as the for some unobtainable proper shields.
Oh - and incidentally those paper masks fared surprisingly well under laboratory test conditions.

So much has happened during this relatively short time.


VK said... "yes I'm sure we all agree respirators, or surgical quality masks, like N95, are best - but not practical for all the population to pay for single use surgical quality masks"


With respect V K, so called 'surgical masks' were never intended for Covid anyway, and sadly are not a great deal better than the woeful cloth "token masks'
The 'surgicals' do protect the other person more than the wearer but are still far from ideal.
Sadly many don't wear them as intended so that makes things worse. Side venting is another issue.


But getting to the "N95" and related respirators - then we're in another ballpark.
If worn PROPERLY they can afford the user & anyone nearby a very useful level of protection.

And as for the "single use only" IF only that was as simple as it sounds.
The original creator has described how "N95's" can be reused.
Don't jump down my throat but under tests it has been shown that SOME types CAN be reutilised up to 25 times - NOW - of course in our REAL world the testers acknowledged that is totally unrealistic.

However - for those NEEDING protection & who can NOT afford or WILL not use N95's if they believe they must discard them after every single use, then please feel free to research their REUSE as is also supported by MAJOR manufacturer guidelines.

I'm not speaking of REMANUFACTURING here which is a COMPLEX issue & relates to all PPE ( see the Government TGA information sites for that )

But - and here it is up to the individual to decide if they want to extend their 'single use' masks. The process involves storing the used masks ( N95 related ) in brown paper bags out of sunlight ( which would otherwise break down some of the mask structure )

I'm not going to provide any links here - do your own research if interested & make up your own mind but not only can it save money but also help save this very wobbly planet from more unnecessary degradation.

As for the cloth/fabric masks - well the average person discards roughly 23 kilogrammes of fabric ( from clothing etc ) Yes, per person per year.

Maybe..... we should all roam around "neckid" & just huddle up with whoever is nearest to keep warm before moving along ???
Ah dammit I had to say that - all the previous above needed some sort of counterpoise





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