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The UK waiting for Public Health England to tell them they can cover their mouth and nose with an old t-shirt.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/05/lombardy-insists-on-face-masks-outside-homes-to-stop-covid-19

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If only there was a thread about masks we could put this in and discuss.

They sure did. Those pesky production errors.

https://twitter.com/donnan_s/status/1245767701777256448?s=21

jason vorhees

Haha, had to google, did lol.

Is that meant to be some kind of gotcha? I know what the WHO says on the issue, I literally commented on it in the same post. That doesn’t need to stop me posting the link to their videos on how to safely put on and dispose of a mask - which was what the comment I was replying to mentioned.

Looks like you didn’t read the entirety of the Wired article either.

The opinions on mask wearing advice is mixed, I’m fully aware of that, the mixed advice is commented on in every single article and link I’ve posted in this thread.

I think it’s worth remembering that the pro mask opinions are mostly centred around the fact that we don’t know if we are healthy, any of us could be asymptomatic and a mask is a way to reduce the risk we may pose to others.

This thread is wonderful and that thread title chef’s kiss

they can be contaminated by other people's coughs and sneezes

If someone else is coughing and sneezing in a persons face, I think contamination of the mask is the least of their worries! Would you prefer to have no mask on so they can just cough straight into your nose and mouth?

With that logic health professionals should be mask-less then.

Not just the WHO, but also Public Health England, who have advised people against wearing face masks

Public Health England’s guidelines on PPE don’t even match up with the WHO guidelines on PPE. Which is why NHS staff are wearing flimsy bin bag like aprons instead of gowns on the frontline.

It’s convenient that Public Health England recommend the poor PPE they just about have and not the equipment they don’t.

And considering there are NHS staff currently asking for donations of goggles from schools, visiting hardware stores to buy their own masks, nurses and doctors re-using masks multiple times on consecutive days and paramedics arriving to patients without masks at all, I really don’t think the U.K. situation is one to hold up as an example of how to do things correctly.

I’d sooner follow the advice of literally any other country. (except Brazil)

If you have friends or family working in healthcare at the moment, then here’s a couple of tips from others working in masks.

The very same masks that many US healthcare professionals will be wearing on the frontlines of this pandemic because of the woeful preparation of their government.

https://www.joann.com/make-to-give-response/?utm_campaign=2116208&ranMID=43312&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranSiteID=TnL5HPStwNw-ZfG2kEkkfXYQcRUr4zookQ

So a talisman that may offer protection and reduce transmission to others is still worthwhile in my opinion.

Plenty of good tutorials to show you how to do it properly too 😉

Here is an article from Wired on masks:

https://www.wired.com/story/its-time-to-face-facts-america-masks-work/amp

You’re right but a lot of people disagree with the WHO on this issue and argue that any protection is better than no protection. It also seems possible that the early advice against mask use, from the US for example, was to stop people panic buying masks that health professionals need.

Some of the above links go into the need to frequently change and sterilise/dispose of masks and you can still dispose of a mask if you’ve made it yourself.

The WHO actually has tips on how to safely put on and remove masks here

One of the above designs essentially creates a pocket for a filter to be held between two pieces of cotton cloth. The filter can be disposed of and the cotton pocket washed and sterilised.

Also, if masks are being recommended to people who are currently in lockdown and sticking to social distancing measures, then their usage is likely to be for short periods of time when going on an essential trip to the supermarket or pharmacy etc.

And this study on the effectiveness of various materials:

https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/

Here is a simple method to make a mask at home. There is even a ‘pro’ method if you are so inclined: https://ragmask.com/ragmask.pdf

Another is the HK Mask Tutorial:
https://diymask.site/

Here’s one from The Atlantic Health System: https://bit.ly/2US2i6H

Edit — It's important to state that healthcare professionals should be prioritised with access to masks. It is shameful that there are currently doctors and nurses working on the frontline of the NHS and around the world with poor, ill fitting and often incorrect personal protective equipment. It is a disgrace that governments in the U.K. and U.S have left health workers so underprepared for a pandemic.

So don't buy N95 masks. But we can make our own!

There is plenty of data out there that shows wearing masks is a useful method to reduce the spread of infectious disease.

“When researchers conducted systematic review of a variety of interventions used during the SARS outbreak in 2003, they found that washing hands more than 10 times daily was 55 percent effective in stopping virus transmission, while wearing a mask was actually more effective — at about 68 percent.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2190272/

The Lancet: “As evidence suggests COVID-19 could be transmitted before symptom onset, community transmission might be reduced if everyone, including people who have been infected but are asymptomatic and contagious, wear face masks."

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30134-X/fulltext

George Gao, director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “The big mistake in the U.S. and Europe, in my opinion, is that people aren’t wearing masks. This virus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. Droplets play a very important role—you’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth. Many people have asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others.”

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/not-wearing-masks-protect-against-coronavirus-big-mistake-top-chinese-scientist-says

Of course face masks should not be used as an excuse to break social distancing rules or self isolation. They will not offer 100% immunity from coronavirus. But a mask is better than no mask, and seems to be a useful accompaniment to hand washing and distancing measures.

I agree with the position that right now, it is socially responsible to wear masks whenever we go out. With more data proving asymptomatic cases are increasing the spread of coronavirus, I admire the western countries that have taken the step to encourage mask wearing and in some cases make this a mandatory requirement of going outside during lockdown.

Czech Republic’s government made it mandatory to wear masks at all times when outside the home weeks ago:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/30/czechs-get-to-work-making-masks-after-government-decree-coronavirus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhNo_IOPOtU

The city of Jena in Germany has followed suit and made masks a requirement. There are now calls for the rest of Germany to do the same:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN21I10K

The Washington Post and The New York Times initially repeated the line that masks were of no use to the public but now they too are changing their position on this:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/health/us-coronavirus-face-masks.amp.html

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/03/28/masks-all-coronavirus/%3foutputType=amp

More countries are revisiting their original guidelines on wearing masks, the United States now included:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/31/824560471/should-we-all-be-wearing-masks-in-public-health-experts-revisit-the-question?t=1585747921595

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/health/cdc-masks-coronavirus.amp.html

I thought it would be useful for us to have a thread to share articles on this issue and importantly, tutorials, templates and info on how to make our own face masks.

The PPE situation in the NHS is so fucking disgraceful.

http://twitter.com/kp104_/status/1244359867009245184

Call me a sceptic but

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So much this.

Im assuming from that response I’m being dumb here?

But Median = middle

According to that study the median is 20 days. So why would they make self isolation less than the median?

From The Lancet - https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30566-3/fulltext#seccestitle10

Can someone explain to me why if the median duration of viral shedding was 20 days, 14 days is the maximum self isolation duration advised?

The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9

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