Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I bought these "stylish" black N95 respirator masks, very comfortable, no complaints. I don't know if they are designed to be anti-virus specifically, but much better than nothing.
Using executive power to order production on ventilators on US soil was great, but doing the same for N95 masks, also for children, and laying down strong guidance for their use, and properly, would have been much better.
I am not comfortable with vaccine mandates for children in schools until a few years have passed and we have more experience with them.
Take care.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WRnative
Thanks very much for the link.
I see Wellbefore offers, but are sold out of 3M "Aura" N95 9205+ respirators. I've purchased a supply of 9205P - DC - 10 Aura respirators from Home Depot. They aren't the most stylish masks, but functionally they are great, with a chin cup and especially a nose band with a lining that blocks circulation around the nose and eyes -- glasses do NOT fog up.
My concern is that these N-95 masks aren't specifically designed as medical devices, even though product descriptions that I looked up says that they do block viruses and bacteria. Wellbefore lists the same research that I uncovered:
<<
Cynthia M. asked: In reply to Sarah T's question of 09/03/2021, under Recommended Application, 3M does list "Airborne Biological Particles" and "Emergency & Pandemic Preparedness" [https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v101146024/]
WellBefore answered: Thanks a lot for your clarification, Cynthia! We are trying to stay up to date as much as we can with all cases, and to complement your reply, due to the pandemic, many NIOSH certified respirators were suggested as medical use according to the FDA.
9/3/2021
S
Sarah T. asked: Hi there, do the 9205+ masks protect from airborne germs, specifically COVID? On the 3M site, it does not list "health care" among its uses. thank you
WellBefore answered: Although the SarS COVID-19 is a virus and not a germ, these masks are made with the regular standards to filter out 0.3 micron as any other N95 or KN95 mask. However, please note there are no specific mask made to "fight against the virus" but to have an extra protection against it, reason for which, the most suggested extra barrier for this pandemic was to wear filtration masks N95 or KN95 models, or similar. Regarding the Most recommended industries, but not limited, according to the 3M site are Construction, General Manufacturing, Industrial Maintenance, Mining, Oil & Gas, Transportation.>>
Wellbefore lists the same NIOSH approval (TC-84A-8590) as is printed on my masks, so I guess Home Depot is offering the same mask. At about $2 when a box of 10 is purchased, the Home Depot masks are much cheaper.
Which masks did you buy? Do you like them, or have any complaints?
I would like to try this "Aura" surgical mask model, also sold out at Wellbefore. Note that it has a different NIOSH approval from the Aura 9205+ masks. I need to do additional research, perhaps contact 3M, to ascertain the differences between the two Aura models. These masks may not be available until after the current surge.
I'm going to consider ordering one of the other N95 surgical masks available on the Wellbefore website. Unlike earlier in the pandemic, when I only had a supply of inferior, 10-years-old N-95 construction masks, I feel relatively protected with my 3M Aura masks. Surely, any N95 mask is greatly superior to cloth masks and even non-N95 procedural masks. A key consideration is a tight fit.
I worry about unvaccinated kids going to school with only cloth masks and being exposed to the Delta variant. I feel certain that all schools should mandate a vaccine for children eligible to receive a vaccine, currently those 12 and older. E.g., a COVID vaccine is at least as beneficial as a DTaP vaccine, especially in the current Delta surge.
Our nation shockingly is ignoring the risks of long COVID sequelae. We may inflicting large numbers of individuals, especially children given the mammoth case rates now among children, with life-long health deficiencies.
<<In January, they reported in a preprint that more than one-third had one or two lingering symptoms four months or more after infection, and a further one-quarter had three or more symptoms. Insomnia, fatigue, muscle pain and persistent cold-like complaints were common — a pattern similar to that seen in adults with long COVID. Even children who’d had mild initial symptoms, or were asymptomatic, were not spared these long-lasting effects, Buonsenso says.>>
<<Hardelid tapped into data gathered by the Virus Watch study, which tracks infections and symptoms in more than 23,000 households across England and Wales. As they reported in a preprint in June, she and her colleagues found that 4.6% of children with evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection had persistent symptoms lasting more than 4 weeks4.
Another UK study, posted as a preprint in May, found a similar rate. Of more than 1,700 schoolchildren who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, 4.4% had symptoms, such as headache, fatigue and loss of smell, that persisted; 1.6% had symptoms that remained for at least 8 weeks5.
It will also be important to determine how long the condition lasts in children, says Armann. Headaches or trouble sleeping for just 6 months is a vastly different problem from having these symptoms all their life, even if it only happens for 1%, he says.>>
I bought these "stylish" black N95 respirator masks, very comfortable, no complaints. I don't know if they are designed to be anti-virus specifically, but much better than nothing.
Is this your mask? It's the only black N95 mask that I see offered on wellbefore.com.
Found this information at the CDC Personal Protective Equipment FAQs. See "What is a Surgical N95 respirator and who needs to wear it?" under Repirators.
<<A surgical N95 (also referred as a medical respirator) is recommended only for use by healthcare personnel (HCP) who need protection from both airborne and fluid hazards (e.g., splashes, sprays). These respirators are not used or needed outside of healthcare settings. In times of shortage, only HCP who are working in a sterile field or who may be exposed to high velocity splashes, sprays, or splatters of blood or body fluids should wear these respirators, such as in operative or procedural settings. Most HCP caring for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients should not need to use surgical N95 respirators and can use standard N95 respirators.
If a surgical N95 is not available for use in operative or procedural settings, then an unvalved N95 respirator may be used with a faceshield to help block high velocity streams of blood and body fluids.>>
So the 3M Aura 9205+ N95 respirators should be adequate if not around someone spitting liquids into your face, if I understand this guidance correctly.
Found this information at the CDC Personal Protective Equipment FAQs. See "What is a Surgical N95 respirator and who needs to wear it?" under Repirators.
<<A surgical N95 (also referred as a medical respirator) is recommended only for use by healthcare personnel (HCP) who need protection from both airborne and fluid hazards (e.g., splashes, sprays). These respirators are not used or needed outside of healthcare settings. In times of shortage, only HCP who are working in a sterile field or who may be exposed to high velocity splashes, sprays, or splatters of blood or body fluids should wear these respirators, such as in operative or procedural settings. Most HCP caring for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients should not need to use surgical N95 respirators and can use standard N95 respirators.
If a surgical N95 is not available for use in operative or procedural settings, then an unvalved N95 respirator may be used with a faceshield to help block high velocity streams of blood and body fluids.>>
So the 3M Aura 9205+ N95 respirators should be adequate if not around someone spitting liquids into your face, if I understand this guidance correctly.
Fair enough.
That CDC guidance is from 2019 when the US had little or no manufacturing capability of personal protection equipment in the face of the pandemic. Obviously that situation has improved since then.
In any case, I'm not sure what CDC's credibility was before the pandemic, but it certainly has lost a lot since then. They are more in the business of promoting big pharma than protection and prevention of disease in everyone's interest.
The full name of the entity is: "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"
It even has a trademarked slogan: "CDC 24/7: Saving Lives, Protecting People"
And it's just a slogan.
CDC does way more controlling - the interests of big pharma - than prevention, protecting, and saving.
Because if they really did prevent, protect and save in everyone's interest, the manufacture and mass distribution of made in USA N95 masks would have been a matter of executive order, as well as strong, steadfast, consistent, clear, durable, see-it-through-to-the-end guidance, not the confusing mish-mash that we have had, and even now more confusing since May 2021, replete with fraud. It's like walking through a land mine.
In any case, I'm not sure what CDC's credibility was before the pandemic, but it certainly has lost a lot since then. They are more in the business of promoting big pharma than protection and prevention of disease in everyone's interest.
The full name of the entity is: "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"
It even has a trademarked slogan: "CDC 24/7: Saving Lives, Protecting People"
And it's just a slogan.
CDC does way more controlling - the interests of big pharma - than prevention, protecting, and saving.
Because if they really did prevent, protect and save in everyone's interest, the manufacture and mass distribution of made in USA N95 masks would have been a matter of executive order, as well as strong, steadfast, consistent, clear, durable, see-it-through-to-the-end guidance, not the confusing mish-mash that we have had, and even now more confusing since May 2021, replete with fraud. It's like walking through a land mine.
Good Luck!
Actually, I would argue that Trump and Republican politicians, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have sabotaged the medical science public health measures promoted by the CDC. The Biden administration has been extremely timid in advancing public health measures, apart from vaccination. Unlike most advanced economies, the U.S. has very deficient mandatory contact tracing and quarantine policies, deficient testing and test reporting, and no serious focus on COVID sequelae. The resulting impacts on our healthcare system, public health, education deficiencies and wasteful economic expenditures will ripple through our society for many years into the future.
With our plentiful supply of vaccines, a determined federal effort that implemented robust public health measures, even if just in states not run by Republicans willing to see their states languish in a continued epidemic, greatly could squash this epidemic. Actually, this is beginning to happen, as some states encourage mandatory vaccine efforts, while administrations such as in Florida stifle such mandates.
Those expecting a Delta surge comparable to Florida's in states such as California likely will be disappointed.
It's NOT the CDC's responsibility to promote N95 mask production. Both the Trump administration and the Biden administration did issue executive orders to increase N95 mask production under the Defense Production Act. I've heard of no shortages in hospitals of personal protection equipment during the Delta surge.
The biggest problem today are medical staff shortages due to vaccine hesitancy, again enabled, protected and even promoted by Republican politicians, and due to Republican anti-mask mandates that result in higher rates of transmission.
Children are topping the infection rate in Florida.Nearly one out of every three infections was suffered by those age 19 and under.
That is incorrect. You mean case rate, not infection rate. A case (PCR positive test) is not a clinical infection.
Children are also in more danger from dying in a car crash than COVID-19, even with the supposedly dreaded Delta variant. In fact, children’s chance of dying is akin to their chance of dying from a hail of bullets. Both are around 1 in 10,000 odds. Should we mandate bullet proof vests for kids (this is the under age 20 category)? I’m talking about plates to stop rifle rounds which weigh 12 pounds for front and back, not the soft armor that normally stops only common pistol rounds. Can’t be too safe, ya know.
Also, it isn’t correct to compare states on a cumulative basis (since “it” started). You have to compare seasons. I believe this is tracked as 40 week of the calendar year to week 39 of the following calendar year.
Sadly, we're probably going to pass New York's death toll by October 1.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Surgical N95 mask versus regular N95 mask
