Seattle to DC with sightseeing and coronavirus?

[landmariner]

The suggestion of planning the last night about 3 to 4 hours outside of D.C. is highly recommended. Even though it is summer and covid-19 has increased teleworking, D.C. is still a congested rush hour city. Best to hit DC area middle of the day.

[travelingman]

My wife is a long time OR nurse (neuro), edited a section of Lippincott for years, and put together an award winning poster for AORN annual convention on sterile control. She fits me with an N95. Nonetheless, that is for only higher risk situations. Given the innate engineering of the N95 it is still safer than the every day surgical mask which is better than an ordinary mask which is safer than the everyday homemade versions. But you are absolutely right that to get 100% out of an N95 it needs to properly fitted, beards are no-no's, etc. When the risk of going into a close space, poorly ventilated rest area bathroom, I prefer to be even 15 percent safer.

Looks like you’re in very good hands with someone who is knowledgeable about N-95 masks!

My biggest concern about the average Joe donning one is that they will have a false sense of security and take unnecessary risks. Likewise, I fear that a lot of the infected front line workers got that way from an improperly fitted mask. Like scuba gear and parachutes, they must be properly fitted and properly used 100% of the time. I’ve always hated wearing those masks and always worried about this.

[landmariner]

Looks like you’re in very good hands with someone who is knowledgeable about N-95 masks!

My biggest concern about the average Joe donning one is that they will have a false sense of security and take unnecessary risks. Likewise, I fear that a lot of the infected front line workers got that way from an improperly fitted mask. Like scuba gear and parachutes, they must be properly fitted and properly used 100% of the time. I’ve always hated wearing those masks and always worried about this.

Have you noticed all the "fitting challenges" people are having with the full array of masks which only cover the mouth and not the nose? LOL, but really isn't funny at all. They swab up the nose for a reason.

[AZBuck]

It's not just the hoi polloi either. Very early in this outbreak (January!) I laid in a stock of PPE. By a stroke of good luck, my son-in-law is actually a sales rep for a major supplier of such equipment in the southwestern US. Among the items I purchased was a full up N95 mask, including a professional fitting and instructions on how to sanitize it after use. recently i went for a routine doctor's visit wearing that mask and the receptionist/nurse told me that the mask was not acceptable because 'It had a valve" and was no use in protecting either me or anybody else. She instead gave me an ill-fitting piece of paper on a string which made no contact with my face on either side and thus did nothing to filter either the air I was breathing in or that which I was exhaling. I told this to my doctor and showed her the two masks. She just shook her head and said she'd have to have a talk with her staff. On every scale, from the national to the decidedly local, we are on our own people. Take care of yourselves.

AZBuck

[travelingman]

The valve allows unfiltered air to enter the room.

See CDC q&a page.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topi...ealthcare.html

[AZBuck]

Now read the FIRST question and answer on that site, regarding the 'surgical' mask I was given instead.

AZBuck

[AZBuck]

I just got back from a visit to my wife's neurosurgeon and since I had just seen and responded as above, we took along three different masks. He was wearing a fourth type. His recommendations, in order:

1) KN95 mask with no valve (what he was wearing since he's in contact with patients all day)
2) KN95 mask with valve
3) surgical mask, tightly fitted
4) cloth mask

Look, all masks will offer some protection and are MUCH better than nothing. Debating relative merits of different types is counter productive and leads to some thinking that since there is debate they might as well wear nothing. No, the simple answer is WEAR A MASK during the pandemic, the best you can lay your hands on, but in any case WEAR A MASK.

AZBuck

[Rick Quinn]

Wearing of masks in public spaces is mandatory where I live, and in an ever-increasing number of other places as well. There are four things I can say about these "Mask Up" mandates:

1.) Wearing a mask in public spaces is the best, smartest thing you can do as an individual to help slow the spread of this terrible disease

2.) Mandatory mask policies have absolutely nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with preserving our quality of life

3.) The greater good--public health--is far more important than your freedom to feel the wind on your cheeks (or whatever other idiotic excuse you might have for refusing to cooperate).

Last but not least (and my personal favorite):

4.) The stupid people are so much easier to spot now! (When I see one, I give them a very wide berth ;-)


Rick

[travelingman]

Now read the FIRST question and answer on that site, regarding the 'surgical' mask I was given instead.

AZBuck

The surgical mask you were given was not to protect you; it was to protect others in the waiting room.

The “N95” mask you walked in with would offer you some personal protection, especially if it had been professionally fit tested. What made it unacceptable was that valve. Because of the valve, you were NOT protecting others in the room. In fact, you could have been putting others at risk by wearing that mask.

Once you donned the mask they gave you, you WERE protecting others in the room. Of course, it offered you no personal protection.

Had you worn a real N95 mask, it would have protected both you and the others in the room.

Show that response to your doctor.

[AZBuck]

Please re-read my initial comment in this discussion. I DID show my primary physician both masks, the KN95 mask I wore into her office and the surgical mask her receptionist insisted I wear. Her response was that I was correct and that she would have to have a talk with her personnel. So that's two MDs who have agreed that a KN95 mask, even with a valve, is better than a surgical mask. I will continue to follow their advice.

Also re-read the discussion about these 'debates' being counter-productive. They are.

WEAR A MASK.

AZBuck