zlacker

>>hhs+(OP)
If Amazon wanted to win immediate trust and lasting goodwill, they should secure suppliers for "Amazon's choice" cotton surgical masks, providing priority service to hospital systems in regions of need, but also (publicly), their own warehouse and delivery workforce. They have the leverage, analytics, and supply chain to make it happen.

Edit: We need to provide enough masks so that people don't feel like they are depriving the hospital system. Also, we need more corporations in America to step up and set an example, protecting their workers and customers. People should stay home, but when they have to venture out (or are needed for work), they should be wearing masks!

>>tcbawo+O5
I'm pretty sure cotton masks offer little to no protection. What you need is a n95 respirator.

>>eloff+n6
What hospitals need are N95 respirators and surgical masks. A family member of mine is a doctor at a large hospital system. They have a mask shortage and have been encouraged to use scarves and t-shirts if necessary. Plain cotton masks would offer considerable benefits if everybody began wearing them in public. Countries in Asia, where it is common for everyone to wear masks have a lower R0 value.

>>tcbawo+U7
> Plain cotton masks would offer considerable benefits if everybody began wearing them in public

This goes against the current WHO recommendation

> If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.

>>dehrma+5e
The "masks don't help" campaign is well-intended disinformation aimed at preserving medical masks for medical practitioners.

It is now proven that people with no symptoms spread the virus. Breathing virus into a cotton sheet is obviously safer than breathing on other people, despite being far from perfect.

>>all_bl+Ox
But using general masks to stop a virus is like wearing a volleyball net to stop gnats. (In reality, the size disparity is far more extreme than that.)

>>masoni+dF1
From what I have heard, a large part of the benefit is that it actively interferes with people casually, constantly and mindlessly touching their face.

Sort of like those cones we put on the necks of dogs to control some of their behavior when they have medical stuff happening.

>>Doreen+xm2

  it actively interferes with people casually, constantly and mindlessly touching their face

Oh, I absolutely agree. And I see its value as not so much "actively interfering" like a Cone of Shame but by serving as a constant reminder against touching hands to face. (Eyes are highly vulnerable but are unprotected by masks.)