John in Jax

One final post about paper/fiber N95 masks in here and I'm done. All I can talk about with certainty is how they have been used in the construction industry. In my 20+ years I have never seen a white paper/fiber N95 mask that had adjustable straps. I have never seen a GC, or any other contractor require their people to go off the site to get "fit-tested" for their N95 masks. I have never been asked by an OSHA inspector if my workers had had their N95 masks fit-tested. What I have seen is that workers have been instructed by a safety person, or by their supervisor, how to put on the mask, how to properly secure the mask to their face (with the 2 elastic straps), and how to put the little metal strip across the bridge of their nose & pinch it a bit to make it conform to their nose. Only thing easier to don would be a pair of gloves, or maybe safety glasses. Even a hardhat has an adjustment capability (of the inner, protective suspension). So I think that your average Joe would have no problem self-fitting a paper/fiber N95 mask.

Anytime you put ANY type of mask/respirator on your face, if you want it to truly protect/filter what you breathe into your mouth/nose, then the mask/respirator should be as tight fit, and as tightly sealed as possible to your face. So of course you would get the tightest/best fit if you have NO facial hair where the mask touches your face. (So a moustache may be OK)

Thanks for that update Hapless. Only thing I can say is that for the MILLIONS of N95 "off the shelf" masks that they are getting from the construction industry/were made for the construction industry.....I am quite certain that THOSE masks will NOT be adjustable, and will NOT offer a impenetrable seal. ETA: the OSHA passage you cited deals with the fitment of a "real" respirator mask, which I talked about in the post above. A PAPER/fiber mask cannot be truly "fit-tested", because it's impossible to get a good enough seal on your face. ETA #2: From your 1st link: Fit testing is required for all users of respirators with tight-fitting facepieces, including filtering facepiece respirators. The fit test ensures that, when donned properly, the selected brand and size of respirator fits adequately to protect the wearer from excessive inward leakage of contaminant through the face seal. Again, a PAPER/fiber mask can never really be considered "tight-fitting." IOW, it will never be able to keep out 100% of the air out side of the mask, while a real respirator would indeed do the latter. The bottom line is that your average person can figure out how to properly wear an N95 PAPER/fiber mask, and get it fitted as good as possible (by themselves), in about One minute....a NY minute, if you desire.

Not sure where this idea is coming from that an N95 PAPER/fiber mask can be fit-tested....it can't, because, well, it's made of a paper/fiber material and there's absolutely no way on earth you'd be able to get a "perfect seal", as you would with a full-size, no kidding, rubber respirator mask (will have a chewing tobacco sized "can" on either side of the mask & adjustable straps; the cans are the actual air filters which will filter out 100% of toxic gases). To work properly, the latter MUST be fit-tested by a doctor, and you must have no facial hair in order to get a impenetrable seal. Of course they are MUCH more expensive than the PAPER N95 masks, but they will literally save your life in a toxic gas situation. Source: Have worked in construction for 20+ years, and have used those white N95 paper/fiber dust masks for 20+ years. The same masks that health care workers are now clamoring for. The same masks that have two non-adjustable elastic bands on them, which go around your head, and pull the mask tight to your face. Of course, depending on how fat your head is, that will determine on how tight the mask is on your face. And again, even if it feels super tight, you won't have a perfect seal. Finally, I'd be willing to bet that if a covid-19 carrier coughed or sneezed directly on your N95 mask, and you kept it on, and kept breathing, you'd probably get the virus. Note: not absolutely sure on the latter; it really depends on how small/big the covid-19 particles are. As a example, the N95 mask will NOT protect you from crystalline silica particles (when concrete, tile, quartz, etc. gets cut and you're right there next to it), because those particles are too small, and they come through the mask. [Mod Edit: fit testing of N95 masks has been A Thing for years. For HCW, they come in several sizes for that reason. The test is performed with a sprayer of something that smells in low concentration, or that tastes sweet in low concentration - usually saccharine for the latter or isoamyl acetate (smells like bananas) for the former. The worker is advised what size of mask they need for a good fit and instructed on how to personally achieve a fit with it] See here, p 40: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2015-117/pdfs/2015-117.pdf?id=10.26616/NIOSHPUB2015117 And here, section B2: https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.134AppA ]

Late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning at around 2:30am I woke up and had a fever of 100.6. I rested all day yesterday, self medicated, and am 100% better today. But I was scared s**tless all day yesterday that I would get worse and be on my way to the hospital. I am reading way too many stories of people way younger than me who get this virus, end up in the hospital, and die. Agree that it’s about as serious as it can get. And yes, my early opinion of not closing everything down was way, way wrong. The optimist in me wanted to believe that it was just another overblown government directive.

I’m sure they’re giving her the best care they can, but I wonder if they gave her that hydrochloroquine (sp?) drug, or any other of the drugs they’ve been talking about for about a week now?

I sure hope that one of these drugs they're trying (as treatment if you have the virus) works well! If not, once they start playing sports again, especially college & pro football, I fear that the virus will keep spreading.

WOW! This is AMAZING.

Thank you for all the time and effort you put into these posts. I’m learning a lot, as I’m sure many others are too.

It actually is the ONLY thing that you can compare it to, since, you know, it’s a respiratory issue. I mean we can’t compare it to our nations #1 killer (heart disease) or to vehicle crashes or to suicides or to poison deaths. The thing that amazes me is that all those people die from influenza even though there are specific drugs to treat it. ETA re the post two above this: Apparently, a LOT of people have Covid-19, and they don’t know it/nobody knows it, so those numbers are way skewed. Put another way, if all the people who have it but don’t know it are added to the mix, the hospital/death numbers are a lot lower.

Really? If statistically, I have a better chance of getting the flu and dying vs getting Covod-19 and dying, it’s irrelevant? I guess what’s “relevant” can vary greatly from person to person. Life is full of “risk vs reward” situations, where we all make decisions every day dealing with those situations. But like I said earlier, all the ranting and raving in here about “they didn’t act quickly enough”, or “they’re crazy not to lock down the whole country for X months”, or “it’s way too early to ‘get back to work’ on X date!” mean absolutely nothing, as the only thing we can do is hope that our leaders make the right call. If they don’t, I’m quite certain they will pay for it on Election Day.

Here’s some Interesting figures. 23,000 people dead from the flu so far this season. Straight from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm

Just as an FYI: I have seen/heard more than one Dr disagree with your bolded text above. It’s going to be a very delicate decision (when to “get back to work”) for sure though. And honestly, there’s nothing we can do about it, other than hope that they make the right decision.

The longer the lockdowns stay in force, the more likely that millions & millions of folks will lose their jobs forever, because millions of businesses will fail, and they will not be able to ever open back up. Plus of course millions of people may lose their homes and/or have to move in with relatives. Yes, the stories of health care professionals (and others too) dying in this fight against this enemy is sad & heartbreaking......but you cannot totally ignore the devastating economic effect it’s having on our country. And obviously, the top leaders of the country have more info than we do on this whole matter, so they will be making decisions from a more informed position. Just for the heck of it, I wish the MSM would keep a daily/running tab on how many people are getting the flu and/or other respiratory illnesses, and how many deaths are happening from those illnesses.

I guess you need to see it (the interview) to fully understand it. Basically though, he thinks that so many businesses will fail, and the economy will go into a full blown depression, that young kids will grow up in a vastly different America than all of us have (well, those 70 & under).

I saw the 70+ year old Lt Governor of Texas (Dan Patrick....no, not the sports radio talk guy) tonight on TV, and he made a real good case for not having "the cure be more devastating than the disease." He feels that if we let the mass "shelter in place" orders remain in effect for too long, the American way of life as we all know it, may be forever changed in a very negative way.

The story is as old as time for those in power: "Do as I say, not as I do!"

Why on earth wouldn’t Trump empower them though? Not trying to go into PPP territory, but surely just about everybody in the world with a working brain (including Trump; he’s not dumb, and is very politically astute) has to know that the longer this drags on, the worse off the economy will be, and in turn, Trump’s chances of winning re-election will be in real jeopardy.

Of course, I’ll defer to the others in here who have more knowledge, but I guess I’m just trying to think positively, and hoping and praying that it doesn’t get as bad as some people think it may get. Personally, I was laid off yesterday, and earlier this week, my daughter who is in the U of Miami DPT (Dr of Physical Therapy) program came up to stay with us for a while. She starts online classes on Monday.

What do you mean? Are you watching the daily press briefings they are doing? THEY HAVE THE BRIGHTEST MINDS in the country.....at the NIH, CDC, DHS, etc.....working on this DAY & NIGHT, 24/7. OBVIOUSLY, they don’t need to have the same “stay in your home” all over the country as they do in the “hot spots.” You do acknowledge the latter, don’t you?

Yeah, freedom & liberty are dumb alright. ? I'm really not understanding why I'm seeing a lot of hate to this post I made about walking on the beach. EVERYBODY was following the CDC guidelines of groups no larger than 10 and/or staying 6 feet away from each other. Am I not allowed to walk my dog around my neighborhood either!? I mean if I use the sidewalk in my neighborhood, I'm more likely to come close to other people as we pass by than I am at the beach.

Went for a 45 min. walk on Jax beach yesterday afternoon. The beach was moderately crowded.....because there’s really nothing else to do.....and we were still EASILY able to stay 10 feet away from any other person. Saw plenty of families/groups of under 10 who were close to each other, and that’s totally their choice. It’s still a free country, last time I checked. LOL

Huh??? Every single day this week that the task force has held their daily presser at the White House, he has been there, and has stepped to the podium to say a few words.. I've seen it and/or heard it in my vehicle on my Sirius feed.

I guess I’m not as smart as everybody else in here, because I don’t know “why that is.” Maybe you can be more specific, and explain it more thoroughly. Maybe if it gets explained, I’ll be pissed off too. Thanks.

Dry cough, (high) fever, and in the worst cases, shortness of breath.