GMTmin8

Do not reuse.

Touching the mask, once properly fitted, even when removing, will transfer infectious particles to your hands.
Any liquid applied to the mask, damages the mask, rendering it less or ineffective.

LAXlocal

Does mouth wash kill the Corona Virus or make your mouth and throat less likely to "accept" the virus

notquiteaff

As conferences at Moscone cancel, there will be plenty of hotel rooms in SF.

But like STS-134, I wouldn’t put the quarantined passengers up in SF. The Central Valley is big and relatively sparsely populated. With plenty of motels along the freeways (not sure that I would old people in tents).

It really sucks to be among those passengers, and I am sorry for what they are going through now and in the near term. But some of this is in their own best interest - the older travelers really should not be clustered together on a ship (see Corona Princess).

invisible

https://www.worldometers.info/corona...e-tot-outchina

Cases outside China went from 1000 on Feb18th to 21000 on Mar 5th. That’s 4 doubling in 16 days or doubling per 4 days.

If this holds (why not) in a week we are going to have more cases outside, then in China. In 2 weeks we are going to have 150k cases worldwide outside of China.

nk15

New CDC guidance says older adults should 'stay at home as much as possible' due to coronavirus

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/hea...cid=spartanntp

nk15

Some highlights:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...cid=spartanntp

"The number of infections climbed past 7,300 in Europe on Friday — more than doubling in just three days."

"New York City pleads for more tests"

"Nursing homes “everywhere” around the country had begun complaining about shortages of masks and gowns, the executive, David Gifford, said."

expert7700

hmm... the diamond princess passengers were delivered a surgical, an n95, and an n95 vented mask each. for their last 7 days onboard.
​​​​;(

the cheap n95 respirator masks I bought say discard after 5 days max. but I am sure that pertains only to smog/dust not viruses.

yosithezet

trueblu any thoughts?

fgirard

And on top of that, one has to be fit-tested for those types of masks (source: sometimes I have to wear a P100 respirator, and the fit testing is annoying, but warranted). Also, you cannot have any facial hair, or it negates the mask.

invisible

Egypt is Iran in coming, from CNN:

Maryland's 3 coronavirus cases are linked to an Egyptian river cruise

Three Maryland patients contracted the coronavirus on a Nile River cruise in Egypt, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced in a news conference.

Hogan said these cases also appear to be linked to six confirmed coronavirus cases in Texas who were also on a Nile River cruise.

747FC

While re-use is not optimal, even the CDC recognizes that in times of need, re-use may be needed. For example:

"Limited re-use of N95 respirators for COVID-19 patients

Limited re-use of N95 respirators when caring for patients with COVID-19 might become necessary. However, it is unknown what the potential contribution of contact transmission is for SARS-CoV-2, and caution should be used. Re-use should be implemented according to CDC guidance. Re-use has been recommended as an option for conserving respirators during previous respiratory pathogen outbreaks and pandemics. It may also be necessary to re-use N95 respirators when caring for patients with varicella or measles, although contact transmission poses a risk to HCP who implement this practice."

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...trategies.html

And:

"Limited re-use of N95 respirators for tuberculosis

Re-use refers to the practice of using the same N95 respirator by one HCP for multiple encounters with different patients but removing it (i.e. doffing) after each encounter. This practice is often referred to as “limited reuse” because restrictions are in place to limit the number of times the same respirator is reused. It is important to consult with the respirator manufacturer regarding the maximum number of donnings or uses they recommend for the N95 respirator model. If no manufacturer guidance is available, data suggests limiting the number of reuses to no more than five uses per device to ensure an adequate safety margin.1 N95 and other disposable respirators should not be shared by multiple HCP. CDC has recommended guidance on implementation of limited re-use of N95 respirators in healthcare settings.

For pathogens for which contact transmission is not a concern, routine limited reuse of single-use disposable respirators has been practiced for decades. For example, for tuberculosis prevention, a respirator classified as disposable can be reused by the same provider as long as the respirator maintains its structural and functional integrity. To extend the supply of N95 respirators during an anticipated dwindling supply, HCP could be encouraged to reuse their N95 respirators when caring for patients with tuberculosis disease.

To maintain the integrity of the respirator, it is important for HCP to hang used respirators in a designated storage area or keep them in a clean, breathable container such as a paper bag between uses. It is not recommended to modify the N95 respirator by placing any material within the respirator or over the respirator. Modification may negatively affect the performance of the respirator and could void the NIOSH approval."

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...trategies.html

So, if Health Care Professional are advised to re-use in an emergency, anyone who has a limited supply certainly should entertain the idea as well.

PanAmWT

She worked at Time Square taking care of AIDs and metal patients before going into Medical School, and have been in middle east refugee camp and Africa for some time. She chose SF General because of the homeless population, did not expect to serve luxury cruise guests.

Unless the public transportation is crowded with several infected passengers, the N95 is likely unnecessary. The pathogen density needs be high enough to cause infection, which usually happens in a hospital setting especially when the patient opens mouth to do diagnosis. PM2.5 particles have terminal velocity around 0.1 mm/sec, or up to 10 minutes suspension in the air then they have to fall within about two meters. It is not not that easy to accumulate heavy enough aerosol load in the air from a patient to hurt you. The risk of infection through contact and through droplets are far larger. This is why the DP (and now GP) infection rate is not so much because people are breathing the same air. It is the contact.

helvetic

21 cases out of 46 tested. It's Wuhan Princess 2.0.

747FC

And, the first case in Hawaii is a GP passenger who returned home:

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/...sh-green-says/

helvetic

I don't imagine we'd see this easily in official numbers as countries will soon reach testing capacity limits and will not be able to accurately report new cases. At a certain point, counting every case is hard and we can only go based off of statistical estimates.