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My husband and a friend of his, who fancy themselves something of 'pandemic watchers' have been rather hyper about this news. For years, they have been squawking (oinking?) about just such an outbreak, especially one that hits not the weakest, but intstead the healthy in a population. Yesterday, my husband was jumping around, nearly excited (but not quite), that we could be looking at a pandemic of 1917-1918 proportions. I kicked him square in the nuts and told him to shut the fuck up.
(okay, maybe that last part didn't happen in real life)
Surgical masks like the nuns are wearing are of little value. You need an N-95 type mask that fits tightly to your face for any real amount of protection. And don't forget to wash your hands before removing the mask and again after disposing of it.
The hand-washing thing is SO important. In the last 5 or 6 years, I have become Howard Hughes... I don't grab door handles or hold onto those rails on the train, and if I do, I do not touch my face until I've washed my hands. And it's paid off- I've been sick like maybe once or twice in the last 6 years.
I suspected those loose-fitting masks didn't do much. That's one of those things people do to feel empowered in a bad situation, more of an emotionally calming practice than a real preventative.
Unless you're performing surgery and are protecting yourself against the random squirt of blood or whatever... that's when you need that kind of mask.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
