News
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We’ll Be Wearing Things on Our Faces for a Long Time
If you think about it, “the face mask is the condom of our generation,” says Brian Castrucci, the president of the de Beaumont Foundation, a public-health nonprofit. -
Three pandemic evolution scenarios: Peaks and Valleys, Fall Peak, Slow Burn
Dr. Lipsitch is a co-author of two recent analyses — one from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, the other from the Chan School published in Science — that describes a variety of shapes the pandemic wave might take in the coming months.
The Minnesota study describes three possibilities:
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Facemasks with valves are half useless
The second reason is more significant: they protect us from infecting others if it turns out we are infected and don’t know it.
Valves defeat that second purpose.
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How Long Will a Vaccine Really Take?
Therapeutic drugs, rather than vaccines, might likewise change the fight against Covid-19.
While some steps in the vaccine timeline can be fast-tracked or skipped entirely, approvals aren’t one of them. There are horror stories from the past where vaccines were not properly tested. In the 1950s, for example, a poorly produced batch of a polio vaccine was approved in a few hours. It contained a version of the virus that wasn’t quite dead, so patients who got it actually contracted polio. Several children died.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/30/opinion/coronavirus-covid-vaccine.html
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Researchers say some fabrics can filter nearly as well as an N95
“We speculate that the enhanced performance of the hybrids is likely due to the combined effect of mechanical and electrostatic-based filtration,” the study said. “Combining layers to form hybrid masks ... may be an effective approach." -
New York , Illinois and other local and state governments order public to wear face masks
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order directing everyone to wear a face mask when in public. -
CDC recommends wearing a face mask when in public
CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. -
Pros and cons of elastic vs ties for face masks
Elastic facemasks are faster to put on but much less comfortable and adjustable than facemasks with ties. We recommend facemasks with ties. -
CDC now recommends everyone should wear cloth face 'masks' in public
The cloth face coverings recommended are not surgical masks or N-95 respirators. Those are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current CDC guidance.
CDC on Homemade Cloth Face Coverings
CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.
CDC also advises ...
