After I heard about the Novel Coronavirus in China, and before it was coming to the United States, I went online to Amazon.com and looked for N-95 masks.  I was not the first person, they were already sold out except for one dealer that promised 10 masks for $500.

Before an epidemic, the cost of the typical N-95 mask is 85 cents.

It is called an N-95 mask because it filters very small particles, including viruses – but the origin of the mask is not because of contagion. It is because doctors used to believe that smells, rather than bacteria or viruses, were the cause of plagues. That “corrupt air” was best handled if you wore a mask to breathe through that “miasma.”

During the Black Death this was PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).

The beak was to place incense so that the smell would not reach the nose and thus keep the doctor away from the plague. It didn’t work, of course.

When the world realized that it was germs and not smells that were the issue, new masks were made. The first being a bit bulky, hot, and miserable. It was 3M – the hero of our story, that developed the N-95, so that the more you use it the better it gets, and has an electrostatic charge to keep particles by it.

The first masks were not for hospital use, but used for industrial workers to keep out particles -and the hero of our later story will be woodworkers.

Today’s N-95 masks in hospitals came when physicians were concerned that HIV could be transmitted through the air. The masks have undergone modification over time, but a few things are still true:

If the mask is not fitted to your face it won’t work well, and you might as well just wear anything. Those of us who have beards – well, time to shave them if you need to wear this.

In 2006 we began to stockpile masks because it was felt we might need them should a pandemic occur. In 2009 we did need them for the Swine Flu (H1N1) and we used millions of them but never replaced them.  So now, we only have a few million masks in our reserve.

Most masks today are made in China, because it is cheap. During the epidemic production stopped. But now, production is doubled. Are they shipping them to us- no they are hoarding them. Nice.

3M company has upped their local production and the general feeling is we need mroe of these masks made in the United States.

The hero of our story is woodworkers have donated thousands of masks to local hospitals, because they have them. They also buy theirs from the US – which is the reason we still have production in the United States.

HOSPITALS OVER FLOW – even in Peoria

Even if your hospital is not in NYC, and you don’t have COVID19 patients flooding your ER the lack of masks is affecting your hospital. Without N-95 masks, and other PPE, your hospital may have stopped doing elective surgical cases. In fact, the American College of Surgeons has said that some cases should be put on hold while we wait for more N-95 masks and PPE.

That is bad news. Not only for that colon cancer that we have to wait to operate on, but because it may mean your hospital will not be ready for COVID19 patients.

Hospitals make money off surgical cases. They employ nurses both in the operating room and the floor and the ICU to take care of those patients. If you stop those cases, because of a shortage of N-95 masks – the hospital will have to lay-off nurses and other people.

That hurts the economy because in most cities the hospital system is the major employer of the area.

It also means if then your hospital gets an influx of COVID19 patients they don’t have the people available to take care of them. It is hard to re-hire people just for a plague, put their lives at risk when the hospital would not keep them on staff.

Some hospitals are doing elective cases (like UC-Davis) and this is the best prepareation.

TESTS

We need two types of tests if we wish to stop the “Shelter in Place” rules -which are needed.

The first is a rapid test that tells us if you have virus and are shedding. If you do, we can isolate and monitor you. In South Korea they put an app on your phone and if you leave a certain area you have heavy fines placed (up to $2500).

The second is a blood test to determine who has had the virus and thus built antibodies against the virus. This means you can work and not worry about things- wouldn’t it be nice to know that cold you had was COVID19?

If you want the economy to keep going- you need to have masks and tests. Once you have those – we can re-start the economy.

The lack of PPE and not taking early testing (like the WHO tests that were available on January 30th) are like the O-ring. It is critical to our economy.

STUPID Leaders

The people who said Mardi Gras should go on — and now they have massive COVID19 infections.

The people who didn’t close the Florida beaches for Spring break – and now lots of COVID19 infections.

The people who didn’t accept WHO COVID19 tests.

The people who didn’t relax FDA rules for COVID19 tests.

The people who are not allowing surgical elective cases to occur in hospitals and bankrupting the local source of the economy.