Posted on 04/03/2020 3:42:04 AM PDT by SkyPilot
The death toll and economic devastation from the novel coronavirus reached staggering new levels in the United States on Thursday as officials reported more than 1,000 deaths from the pandemic in a single day and revealed that more than 6.6 million Americans had sought unemployment benefits in a single week.
The White House is expected to urge at least some people across the country to begin wearing cloth masks or face coverings in public to dampen the spread of the virus. The potential reversal of earlier mask recommendations - which White House officials indicated Thursday were still being debated - signaled the seriousness of the outbreak and rising concerns in Washington about the effect it could have on millions of Americans.
Local officials in one Texas border town already have threatened to fine those who don't cover their nose and mouth if they go out in public. Vice President Mike Pence said guidance on the topic would be issued in coming days; a White House official later said that the guidance would be targeted to those in areas where community transmission is high.
But coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx on Thursday said officials worry that encouraging mask use might interfere with the White House's prior social distancing guidance, which calls for people to stay home, avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and keep a safe distance from nonfamily members.
"The most important thing is the social distancing and washing your hands, and we don't want people to get an artificial sense of protection because they're behind a mask," Birx said. "When the advisory comes out, it will be an additive piece, if it comes out, rather than saying this is a substitute for" social distancing.
America cemented its position as the new epicenter of the outbreak on Thursday...
(Excerpt) Read more at thehour.com ...
“FluBros don’t wear a mask.”
“staggering new levels”
GET A GRIP!!!!
I’d wear a mask if they were actually available.
That would probably be the final straw for me. ANYONE stepping into my house to confiscate something I own will be fired upon. If I’m gonna die during this epidemic, let it be while defending me and mine.
Of course masks help.. We always knew that. The main problem was hoarders.. which lead to medical professionals not having enough masks in supply.
3M Should be ashamed of themselves for not selling every single mask they make to Americans in America. Then we have CHINA sending us infected and defective supplies. Bizzaro World!
Wit 3M sending 70% of their masks, keeping them in China, not going to be easy to find any.
Abortion deaths just under 3,000 a day.
GOD recommends that this CHOICE be STOPPED!
They are also trying to get their vote by internet.. vote by mail Democrat Election/Voter fraud. They are happier than pigs in mud.
TP; yes.
Flour? Maybe.
MAsks? Uh; no!
Unless you were going to scalp them.
One mask is all ANYONE needs (if they are NOT interfacing with a lot of other folks).
A friend of a friend works for the US Postal Service.
They have struggled to be supplied with hand sanitizer. It had been on backorder since this whole thing started.
Finally a big bottle arrived, and some employee at that post office STOLE it.
Federal facility, so a FEDERAL offense. That’s how desperate and panicked people are.
(BTW I understand that the biggest local mail processing facility STILL has no toilet paper, making for a very ugly situation)
Why do they always stop short of telling us the side-effects/risks of Hydroxychloriquine?
It’s an already approved drug.. I don’t get their over cautious concerns.
Dr. Fauxi is getting on my nerves.
The biggest risks are cardiac making vulnerable individuals at risk for life threatening cardiac arrhythmias. The other issue is the half life of this drug is 42 days. If you have an adverse effect you are doing to have it for a while. Zithromax is additive to the cardiac side effect profile
Thanks for that info!
U.S. coronavirus deaths top 1,000 in single day,
How do these numbers compare to a normal mortality rate? All I see are panic numbers stated to keep the panic level high enough.
As someone who spent a good part of their career in Hazmat, I have a VERY good idea of what respirators can, and can not, do.
For instance, we NEVER require someone to wear a N95 “mask” or respirator. Simply put, if you need the protection, a comfort mask of that type will not work. Full stop. As you said they get wet (person record is 5 minutes till I was waterboarding myself with sweat), they leak on the edges, and most people do not know how to wear them. We call them “comfort” masks, because if you are working in a dusty atmosphere where there is no risk of injury, they are nice to have. But they can not be required as PPE, because they don’t work. If you are reusing one for 3 days, that is an OSHA violation and a rather hefty fine.
In hazardous dust situations, such as crystalline silicone, heavy metal, and such where the danger is JUST inhalation, we required something like this.
I have a soft spot in my heart for my 6300. Have a few personal ones for doing projects around the house. However, you MUST be fitted, tested, and trained to use one. When I see pictures of nurses and doctors showing bruising after wearing respirators, I cringe. Not only on they not wearing them right, they are probably not having complete protection. I can see that there is leaks around the edges of the eyes, and up around the nose. Tighter does not mean better seal. They also MUST be cleaned after use. The nice thing is a dilute solution of sodium hypchlorite (bleach) and soak will clean and kill everything. They are reusable, and much more comfortable to wear. You do look like a move extra, but for me that is just a perk.
However, this bug can attack through mucus membranes (as I understand) so that requires a full face respirator. I used to be a big fan of the 7 and 8000 3M series, but over the years have gravitated to MSA 3000 series masks. These provide complete face coverage, good seal, and having spent 8 to 9 hours in one not stop, less skin irritation. One of the “nice” things about working in an acid gas environment is that if you have a leak, you will know IMMEDIATELY. HCl gas is smaller than a virus, and irritates mucus membranes at very low concentrations.
However, it takes training wear this. The most common problem I saw was people refusing to shave and wash their face (need a good sealing surface) and when they took the gear off. To decon, you need at least two people giving you the full “Silkwood” shower in order to make sure you are not spreading the contagion (chemical, biological, or nuclear) all over yourself. That also takes training, and is not a natural act.
The majority of the injuries I saw in my years on hazmat had to do with improper respirator sealing (I fired a guy once who refused to shave his beard before going into a hot area), and decon while removing PPE. One gal spent all day in a chlorine atmosphere, but ended up with eye injuries coming out because she was embarrassed in decon and didn’t do the right procedure. I told her “trust me, no one is looking while wearing the Green Giant suits.
For those of us that have worked with ‘peel the paint off your house’ chemicals, this is familiar. For many if not most medical staff it is not common. When my kid was in the NICU, I became a hand washing nazi. Many doctors would just walk in without washing, or using sanitizer. The head doc was great, and kept telling the new students “If Red makes you wash, WASH! I DON’T CARE IF YOU THINK YOU ARE CLEAN FROM THE ROOM BEFORE!” Dr. Jan was awesome, but she was an exception.
would have been an OSHA violation. Now it’s accepted practice because we don’t have the supplies to do otherwise
I’m in same boat..lol. remodelling a very old house. We gave a 6000 series mask and 3-pack P-95’s to an ER doc already.
My daughter has asthma so I gave her one awhile back.
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