Links: Masks, and a reason to use better ones

[sonia]

Some Covid masks are better than others. I know – I’m the Mask Nerd by Aaron Collins.

A typical cloth mask, while better than nothing, only provides around 30-60% protection to the wearer. Surgical masks, while better at 40-80%, lack a tight fit to the face, resulting in large amounts of leakage around the mask.

Much, much better masks exist. [...] Mask makers such as Masklab and Posh have created highly decorative designed masks, with bright colours and intricate patterns. Many KF94 masks feature built-in ear-loop adjusters, making for a comfortable, but tight fit. Other mask makers such as 3M – with the 9152 (9105 in the US), a mask that helps the wearer breathe as if there were none on their face, while also providing a full range of motion for the jaw – provide great options for singers and choruses.

I tried ordering some masks from Masklab a few days ago, and they haven't shipped yet. I hope they fit well once they get here!

Upgrading Masks [COVID-19] by siderea. "I ordered a box for my household directly from Honeywell (https://ppe.honeywell.com)." She predicts shortages as everyone suddenly notices that omicron requires better masks. Comments are worth reading as well.

And a motivation to wear a better mask:

Cognitive deficits in people who have recovered from COVID-19 by Adam Hampshire, William Trender, Samuel R Chamberlain, Amy E. Jolly, Jon E. Grant, Fiona Patrick, et al.

Findings: People who had recovered from COVID-19, including those no longer reporting symptoms, exhibited significant cognitive deficits versus controls when controlling for age, gender, education level, income, racial-ethnic group, pre-existing medical disorders, tiredness, depression and anxiety. The deficits were of substantial effect size for people who had been hospitalised (N = 192), but also for non-hospitalised cases who had biological confirmation of COVID-19 infection (N = 326).

Relatedly, The Brain Doesn’t Think the Way You Think It Does by Jordana Cepelewicz via nancylebov in a comment on another post from siderea on starting to talk about Long Covid.

Recent work has found, for instance, that two-thirds of the brain is involved in simple eye movements; meanwhile, half of the brain gets activated during respiration.

Comments

[rosefox]

Cognitive deficits in people who have recovered from COVID-19

Maybe the reason so many people in government are proposing terrible covid safety policies (like NYC's DOE, which is keeping schools open with no remote learning option) is that they've all recovered from covid and are now objectively less smart.

[sonia]

Your joke is painfully funny. And your icon is great.

The policies are horrible, though, and sadly I think they're pursuing eugenics with all the brain cells at their disposal.

[jesse_the_k]

I stumbled on Armbrust USA via YouTube, and was impressed by their marketing guy, Josh, detailing the construction and fit of a lot of masks. They claim they've focused on filtration -- customers can fiddle for best fit.

Reviewing their site again, I may have been taken in by rank hustlers. Who knows?

I was seduced by their $30 sampler pack -- I'll let you know what I think if/when it ever arrives.

[sonia]

Sampler packs are a good idea! I hope they work out for you. Your link got into a loop on my browser, but this link worked for me: https://www.armbrustusa.com/products/armbrust-mask-sampler-kit

There's a local Portland mask company protectly.co which endearingly delivered masks to me by bike courier, but I didn't like the masks, and they're now price-gouging by more than double on BinaxNow rapid tests, so I'm definitely done doing business with them.

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks for finding a better link.

I so wish the 3M Aura 9205+ respirators didn't have that scratchy black foam on the inside backing up the nosewire -- creates cranky pressure sores after 2 hours.

My oh my, it looks like someone panicked on the protectly site! Big black letters basically saying "we can't help it! we can't meet deadlines! random supplies are random!" (and [extra warrant canary][bird]) "when this alarming notice disappears things will have been improved"