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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Apr 5, 2020 11:29:57 GMT -5
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Apr 5, 2020 11:59:24 GMT -5
I started wearing a mask at my job today. No one else but me has used it. When the pandemic started, the guidance of the Minister of Health and his representatives here in Brazil was not to wear a mask unless you were sick or dealing with sick people. But, last Thursday, the Minister of Health came to give an interview changing the direction. He said that we should all make our own masks. Each of us should have 3 or 4 homemade masks. He indicated sites and youtube videos that taught how to make masks at home. He said that at first the government had not considered the possibility of transmission through asymptomatic people who were infected, but that the virus proved to be more efficient than they had imagined. According to him, the way the virus was efficiently obtained in China seemed to indicate that the contamination was not so fast and so easy to happen. But the way the epidemic spread in Italy and the United States of America, indicates that the virus spreads much faster than they had imagined, including through asymptomatic people. As soon as I heard this, I bought disposable cleaning tissue and elastic hair clips. Together with two of these tissue, one on top of the other, I place the elastic bands on each side (forming something that looks like a giant bonbon). Then I put the tips inward, and then I put the mask on by attaching the rubber bands to the ears. The Minister of Health said that we must wear these masks for two hours, and then replace them if we are away from home. He also said to wash the used masks, leaving them to soak in a liter of water with 20 ml of bleach. After drying in the sun. I did it yesterday, and it worked, even with disposable tissue. He told us to try to handle the mask by the rubber bands and wash your hand or use alcohol gel before handling the mask. In any case, the minority of people in my city has followed this recommendation.
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Post by Esmé's meme is meh on Apr 6, 2020 23:15:49 GMT -5
This is my face, I don't wear masks
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Post by Hermes on Apr 8, 2020 11:03:23 GMT -5
I think masks are definitely a good thing. It's not clear to what extent they protect the wearer - they weren't designed to do that - but they do protect others. (So there wasn't much point wearing them when the virus was new and everyone almost certainly hadn't got it, but there is now, as the virus spreds more widely.)
The problem is, what to do about it. There were a couple of shops selling masks before the lockdown, but they are now closed, of course. All the recipes I have seen for home-made masks include something I haven't got and would now find it difficult to get, and most of them also assume a basic level of capability with one's hands which I doubt I have, either. The Czech Republic, which has made masks compulsory, also has a mass volunteer mask-making programme: if other countries could do something like that, it would be a good thing, but they haven't so far.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Apr 8, 2020 11:35:02 GMT -5
The mayor of a neighboring city of mine will distribute 1 million masks to the population in the coming days. (I just watched that news in the newspaper). They will be masks made by companies that make clothes in the city, and will be washable. I saw this video teaching how to make a mask using material available in supermarkets or drugstore. It is in Portuguese, but the most important is the demonstration ...
It is so easy to do, that I got it.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Apr 8, 2020 11:40:21 GMT -5
If you see the surgeon general's video linked in my OP, literally all you need is a scarf (or bandana) and two rubber bands.
I understand a mask is mainly to protect others, but then I guess a scarf is really all you need. If you have the virus without showing any symptoms (yet), you're only endangering others when you talk (emitting saliva particles). In this case, I also don't know why changing or washing masks after use is as important as it's made out to be, since if you're sick, you stay sick no matter what, and other people are still protected from your virus-spittle.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Apr 8, 2020 13:07:56 GMT -5
From what I understand from the explanations I heard here, it is that when a mask gets wet, it stops preventing the droplets from entering and leaving, and the mask also becomes a place of easy spread of bacteria. (It's not just because you're sick that you can't be sick at the same time because of other reasons). In addition, although the mask protects others, I have my personal suspicion that it can also be of help to the user as well ... I tried on a surgical mask that I managed to buy online, and I also started to use a mask 4 layers of cloth instead of two made by myself. I can say that the 4-layer mask seemed to filter the air more than the surgical mask ... But these are personal experiences ... You know me and I tend to make theories ... Don't start to believe me now.
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Post by Reba on Apr 8, 2020 15:19:57 GMT -5
it definitely doesn’t filter the air, but one way it can help the user is it stops you from touching your face inadvertently before you’ve washed your hands.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Apr 8, 2020 15:24:34 GMT -5
Well that's true ... But in compensation, every time you need to adjust your mask, you will need to touch your face ... I always have a small bowl of alcohol gel, and I still have to force my mind to use the alcohol gel before adjusting the mask. Sometimes I forgot.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Apr 8, 2020 18:16:57 GMT -5
It's been surprisingly easy for me to get used to not touching my face whenever outside the house (maybe because I've already been careful never to touch my face on the job before the coronavirus started), but I've heard it's very difficult to near impossible for some people. A friend of mine's got a beard that he just can't keep his hands from, and tbh, I think he's fuuuukkd
I should note that it has been difficult for me not to touch my hair to get it outta my face, so I just started using two small black claw hair clips - pro-tip for you longer-haired individuals out there.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Apr 8, 2020 18:34:35 GMT -5
I don't know why, but as soon as the advice not to touch your face has been published, all the hives that exist seem to hit my face at the same time.
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Apr 9, 2020 10:40:21 GMT -5
Today I tested my theories with respect to masks, using disposable cloths. What passed my test was a mask with 12 layers of cloth, which were two disposable cloths folded several times. I published this theory and the test in Portuguese on YouTube. youtu.be/9wbhItC7Wxg
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