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by kzrdude 2279 days ago
The idea will probably lodge itself in our minds, but in practice there are no masks to buy, so we can't even start getting used to it.
3 comments

I imagine that just like my grandparents who lived through the Depression hoarded ketchup packets despite being financially secure, as soon as N95 masks are freely available I will keep a stash handy for the rest of my life, regardless of whether I ever face another pandemic, or official organizations advise against it.
One intriguing question that I can't answer today is whether or not this global pandemic is the exception, or whether 100+ years without a global pandemic is the exception.

Not to mention, you look out over the next 50-100 years, you gotta be concerned about biological warfare. Having a population that knows how to handle a pandemic keeps the non-science-fiction viruses at bay pretty well.

But we had influenza pandemics in 1957 and 1968, plus the swine flu in 2009...
That is exactly why I already had masks. I've kept a small stash since the Ebola epidemic.
We could improvise them though. I know in Hong Kong they have asked people to improvise using layered paper towels and tissues because those are readily available nonwoven fabrics.

It isn't as good as the real thing, but done at the population level I expect it would lower the reproductive value of the virus and thus help flatten the curve.

> improvise using layered paper towels and tissues because those are readily available nonwoven fabrics.

sorry is there a youtube video for this. Just want to make sure i don't make a mistake.

Experts devise do-it-yourself face masks to help people battle coronavirus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNjpH5lBZ8w

You can make your own cloth mask.