Another example of our failing mental health system. She shouldn’t have been arrested she should have been committed for temporary observation.
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I bought 100 fold n95s and 40 cup n95s off Walmart.ca, and 2 3M n95s at a Home Depot in March after seeing every single cashier at a Chinese grocery store wearing them here in Toronto. At that point they were wearing them mostly to combat anti-Chinese racism but I saw the writing on the wall then. A simple google search showed me images of every Chinese and Korean citizen only wearing real n95s and kn95s - no homemade masks to be seen. Studies from the first SARS outbreak confirmed that only n95s were sufficient so I put in my orders.
I gave away all of the folds and kept the cups for myself and my immediate family.
Over the next month I had poker players and drug dealers in my Whatsapp groups selling tens of thousands of n95s, face shields, gowns and hand sanitizers. They were the hoarders and resellers that drove the price up (~$10 for 3m n95s, ~$4-6 for other brands, $3 for folds). It was gross to watch but I still bought them as needed for friends and family throughout April.
I’m in Canada so short of mailing a couple cups (which I won’t be doing) I can’t really help you. I’d check the CDC list of NIOSH certified brands + serial numbers and scour the internet. If you know any drug dealers I would ask them. Searching the giant retailers for the off brand names specifically is sometimes more fruitful and also circumvents some of the bans websites put in place to stop resellers from using their sites to sell/gouge PPE.
I get n95s through my job (although i try to wear one for at least a week which i know isn’t ideal so as not to exhaust our supply). I was just curious where others get them from.
I’m smiling under the mask.
Where do you guys get legit kn95s?
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I got a pack of 10 for $40 at a local hardware store, they had them for $50 like 2 weeks ago but it seems like they’ve had more in stock recently
And how can you tell if they’re legit or not?
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Surgical masks for things like farm stand and farmers market. RZ mask for almost everything else, sometimes with a surgical mask over the RZ mask exhalation ports.
No mask for going out for a walk. There are not a ton of people around here and it’s pretty safe imo.
Expiry usually doesn’t affect the filtering but can lead to a dry/brittle elastic loops that might snap. Probably not a big deal if your mask breaks at the grocery store but it makes expired masks useless for hospitals.
Also I’d take a few n95s and alternate through them rather than wearing a single one daily for a week. Dampness can ruin the mask so maybe try letting them dry. It’s also easier to let them “air out” for a few days rather than worrying about sanitizing them.
A friend makes reusable cloth masks for friends and sent us two, each sized perfectly for our faces. We rarely go out and otherwise alternate and wash them two to three times a week.
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Homemade cloth masks cut down between 0-80% of your droplets from escaping depending on fit, size and material. They prevent about 0-10% of the droplets you’d be breathing in.
Put your hand in front of your mask and try to breathe hot on to it. Notice how you feel the warmth on your hand? Yeah that’s no good. Doesn’t happen (as much) with an n95.
There have been shortages of n95s since March. There were political battles over n95 blockades since April. We demand at least n95s for our medical workers. Why? They’re not facing a different virus than you are - they just have more constant exposure. If you get exposed your cloth mask is as useless as it would be for them. From a societal actuarial perspective getting as many on board for 80% reduction of droplet expulsion is fantastic - from a personal perspective er…
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I mean, yolo on a 5 pack? 113 / 113 5 star reviews can’t be wrong…
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hooooooly shit $8 for one disposable mask
morons were buying fuckin toilet paper by the carload lol they blew it
Insane person.
I had to visit a doctors facility which was part of a local hospital complex. I was not really thrilled to be going there but every single person I saw there visitors, patients, staff , they all had masks on properly. All the staff at my doctors office sans receptionist also had just started wearing face shields the day before.
If people who refused to wear masks could be dropped on the spot (so they can’t spread it to others) I would be supportive.
I’ve had to go to a hospital setting probably 15 or so times since the pandemic started. So far those have been the public spaces I’ve felt safest in. 100% mask compliance, temp checks, symptom questionnaires, etc.
It’s heartbreaking to see all of these videos of brainwashed nutjobs who are willfully spreading a virus out of stupidity and hatred. Their unreachable, unteachable, and unfortunately unbleachable when they eventually do get sick. This country, man.
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Just got some masks in the mail from Swaddle Designs. Apparently, they make baby blankets and figured they could start using their materials for face masks.
They are comfortable, but they run surprisingly big. Got both medium and large - they say medium fits smaller adults, teens, and most women. Large fits adult men.
They are all WAY too big for the intended people in my household (disclaimer: my wife hasn’t tried one on yet). Fortunately, the elastic straps can just be tied to make them shorter, so the large fits me well now. A lot of coverage - I look like Hannibal Lecter. The medium fits me pretty well with no adjustments, but if I open my mouth wide-ish, it slips up off my chin.
Has a metal piece in the nose for adjustment. $8 each on sale.
The ones at Target that are 2/$4 have gotten decent reviews, so I might given them a shot.
EDIT: The ones I got were the 3-ply chambray version. The rest are 2-ply and some of those are specifically labeled as kids sizes.
EDIT 2: I saw a review where someone said they shrunk and fit better after a wash.
I’m quite surprised by the article in the OP stating that both cloth and surgical masks do almost nothing to protect the wearer. I guess I need to upgrade before starting our home school bubble.
I get kn95 from my job. I think they come from our offices in Israel. Now they’re going to start supplying branded masks with our company name on them. I’ll pay $8 each for plain asks before I wear that.
If 100% of people are wearing surgicals it’d eventually reduce the R below 1. They’re not so buy and wear real masks and enjoy your R of 2+ for the next couple months.