"We have 43 million masks..and a lot more are coming."

[RandySF]

That's their response plan.

[dchill]

1. Coming from where? China?

[Pachamama]

2. Gawd we are fucked....

This is their response plan????

OMG

[underpants]

3. Oh so we share it with 8 people?

[handmade34]

4. ...

But there's little evidence to suggest that the face masks worn by members of the public prevent people from being infected by breathing in the virus, says William Schaffner, a professor in the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "There really are no good, solid, reliable data."
According to the CDC, the kind of flimsy masks that people often buy in pharmacies may not tightly fit the face, so the wearer can still breathe in air — and infected droplets.

from NPR

[Baitball Blogger]

9. And yet, the CDC, when they come in contact with people from Wuhan or

the Diamond Princess, were wearing masks.

[usedtobedemgurl]

12. Those Were, Most Likely, The N-95 Masks

They are worthless to folks like me and you, unless we have a professional show us how to wear it. If you know how to wear it, they are quite good. The general ones are only good for the population if the SICK people are wearing them. It helps manage the droplets they put out. Just like my doctor's office always had masks and told patients to let them know if they had certain symptoms. If they did, they were required to wear masks. It is for the sick people and to try and contain the virus.

[Kaleva]

13. Other studies suggest they are effective

"According to a study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, families with kids who had flu-like symptoms and used the masks properly were 80% less likely to be diagnosed with the same thing.

Another study looked at 400 people who had the flu found that family members who wore a surgical mask and washed their hands reduced their chance of getting the flu by 70%.

“Individual brands of masks and that sort of thing hasn't been studied, but the few studies that have looked at them do have an effect – in some studies, up to 50 to 80% reduction in transmission,” UW virology expert Alex Greninger said. “They seem to stop large droplets, and I think the other key thing to mention with masks is that it really depends on what you're willing to wear.”

Coronavirus is most commonly spread through the air by coughing or sneezing or though close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands, according to the Washington State Department of Health.

While masks do seem promising, it's also important to utilize other preventive measures. Make sure you wash your hands often during flu season, especially if you're around others who may be sick. Also, be sure to get your annual flu shot to protect yourself and others from spreading the virus."

https://www.king5.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/surgical-mask-effectiveness/281-9c762e52-c2ec-4dec-b5f3-77ee833fca1e

"At the start of flu season in the last two years, participants were randomly assigned to six weeks of wearing a standard medical procedure mask alone, mask use and hand sanitizer use, or a control group with no intervention. Researchers followed students for incidence of influenza like illness symptoms, defined as cough with at least one other characteristic symptom such as fever, chills or body aches, Monto said.

From the third week on, both the mask only and mask/hand sanitizer interventions showed a significant or nearly significant reduction in the rate of influenza-like illness symptoms in comparison to the control group. The observed reduction in rate of flu-like symptoms remained even after adjusting for gender, race/ethnicity, hand washing practices, sleep quality, and flu vaccination."

https://news.umich.edu/masks-hand-washing-prevent-spread-of-flu-like-symptoms-by-up-to-50-percent/

[Roland99]

5. And those are worthless if one doesn't have it

[RockRaven]

6. So 1 of 8 Americans get ONE mask each. What do they do the next day? And the next?

And the next? And the other 7 of 8 Americans?

*crickets*

43 million sounds like a lot. Until it is not.



[yes I know not everyone needs a mask all the time, if at all, I'm pointing out the scale of the possible problem]

[safeinOhio]

7. We a million more test kits, like yesterday.

I thought a reporter might bring that up. We’ve only been able to test less than 800 while others have test 10s of thousands.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. Maybe he should tell his surgeon general.

[area51]

10. GMTA, you beat me to it.

Link to tweet

"Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!

They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!"

[Doreen]

11. Well, one of the markets are going up.

[Takket]

14. the surgeon general said not to buy masks, so what good does this do?

[sunonmars]

15. They aint going to help much, this virus can enter in so many ways. Nor is the hand sanitizer unless

its hospital grade. You need hibiscrub or strong base cleanser to kill it off .

[highplainsdem]

16. Is he including the several million masks California had stockpiled, with only 20,000 not expired?

https://timesofsandiego.com/tech/2020/02/29/california-faces-shortage-of-coronavirus-test-kits-and-specialized-face-masks/

It is also unclear when the state may get more specialized face masks, known as N95 respirators. Most of the state’s stockpile of several million is expired, leaving only about 20,000 masks for use, the governor’s office confirmed.

Newsom’s office said it has ordered 300,000 more, but most are manufactured in China, where demand is especially high, and the state could be facing a backorder to at least April.

N95 respirators, high-grade and often an element of infection-control strategies, can protect a person from bacteria and viruses. But certain components, such as the elastic straps, can degrade if they’re in storage for too long, which affects the masks’ fit and resulting performance.

[scarytomcat]

17. a one day supply?