I've been saying this forever. Whoever wants to get very cheap but very efficient (and also very comfortable) protection against Covid-19 can simply buy surgical facemasks (the actual medical grade ones, graded ASTM level 2 or ASTM level 3 - widely available and cheap in boxes of 50 at Amazon and other vendors), and get a silicone brace to enhance the seal, from, for example, fixthemask.com. I had mentioned preliminary tests done at the University of Pennsylvania medical school. Now the CDC/NIH sponsored more tests, and endorsed it, with the same numbers found at UPenn: The mask + the brace delivered a performance of 98% filtration, equivalent to an N95 (fixthemask was indeed one of the braces tested by the CDC/NIH, as seen on the last line of table 1, if you download the full pdf from the link). Also, the soft, almost silky ASTM level 3 masks are very comfortable; much more comfortable for prolonged use than an N95. The brace itself is washable/reusable forever. I own one, and I got them for my wife and my adult children too. This solution is worth pennies per day. I'm glad that now the CDC is endorsing this solution that I preached here forever and ever. This is so affordable and efficient, but I literally NEVER saw anybody else doing this, other than myself, my wife and my children... So there is a solution that is dirt cheap and very efficient, but people don't seem to have any interest in it. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.16.21263642v2 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.16.21263642v2.full.pdf+html
Thanks, CF. I'd never heard of those before. I'm going to have to try one. But of course, my all time favorite mask-- It's interesting that the basic concept was fairly well known back then.
Now the left need to call out everyone who simply recommends mask wearing because most of the masks that the average person wears are only about 10% effective. We need to quit with the mentality that you need a "mask" to enter establishments and that "masks" work. A mask is NOT mask is NOT a mask. The left don't cause anyone any trouble as long as they are wearing a "mask" even if that mask is only 10% effective and governments, the cdc, fda, etc only merely recommend "mask" wearing. This spreads the virus. Even your thread title, "A simple facemask + brace = as good as N95" is misleading and counterproductive because it implies that a "simple" mask which is only 10% effective plus a brace is as good as an N95.
The effect of a mask is demonstrated in the UK case figures. Our case numbers were dropping significantly until the mask mandate was removed. We are now seeing 50000 cases per day, doubling the previous rate
The types of masks most people wear reduce the spread about 10%, meaning they are 90% worthless. I don't know about you but if the weatherman tells me there is a 90% chance of rain, then that means it's got a very, very high chance of raining, just as a mask that is 90% useless isn't going to account for much. Thinking that it does further spreads the virus.
The case rates in the UK during the mask mandate and after the mandate was removed indicates that it was much more than 10% reduction
... and it's still just as false now as it was in the past. Face masks do not protect oneself from COVID, not even ASTM level 2 or 3 surgical masks (and not even with a silicone brace enhancing the seal). ... I'm sure that those tests followed rigorous standards and had absolutely no conflicts of interest... Masks do not filter out COVID. Prolonged use of masks is not healthy at all. Bacteria gets all over the masks, oxygen levels decrease, and CO2 levels increase for a few examples. Why are you, as a "doctor", giving out advice that HARMS people rather than helps them?? Meh. Masks don't protect people from COVID. It's not a solution; masks do not protect people from viruses. That's because, once you get outside of the big cities, nobody gives a **** about COVID fear mongering and doesn't wear any sort of mask anyway. The scamdemic ends once you turn off your TV screen and live life again.
Masks don't protect people from viruses. Their pores are too large and masks aren't worn 24/7/365, for a couple of examples.
Nope... the virus still spreads around all the same. What it might "prove", though, is that cases of illness tend to decrease in the Summer and increase in the Winter. (in the former USA, anyway)
There have been several studies, of which some have made it onto the CDC's own website, which have proven that the kinds of masks most people actually wear are only about 10% effective. Are you saying that the CDC is providing false information?
A meta-analysis I've posted here over and over, published and peer-reviewed by The Lancet, and looking at a large number of studies (27 if I'm not mistaken) pointed to an 82% reduction in the relative risk of catching the disease, for people wearing facemasks or N95s (studies had both). Given that with the brace I'm mentioned, high-grade surgical face masks perform as well as N95s, I expect that the drop is at least this much if not higher (because the studies included facemasks without braces).
