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If medical masks are the safer option
On Monday, students and teachers in Quebec high schools will trade in their fabric masks for medical ones — which raises the question, should the rest of us be doing the same?To get more news about surgical mask stock, you can visit tnkme.com official website.
Guidelines around mask-wearing have evolved in Quebec over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, but have settled with fabric face-coverings being an acceptable barrier against the virus outside of settings like hospitals, some workplaces, and now, high schools.
High school students have been asked to wear the procedural (medical) mask, which gives them better protection against the virus, in the current context of high community transmission,” said Quebec education ministry spokesperson Bryan St-Louis.
Quebec announced it would provide students and teachers with two medical masks per day when it outlined the details of its back-to-school plan amid the latest lockdown.
St-Louis said COVID-19 transmission levels are high among high school students and young adults in Quebec. The latest government data shows youth age 10-19 account for 11.2 per cent of the province’s COVID-19 cases, and people age between 20-29 account for 15.7 per cent.We wanted to standardize this personal protective equipment in high school, a place where young people can find themselves within two metres,” he said.
But cases are high among other age groups as well, so why aren’t we all wearing medical masks?
“A medical mask, properly used, is definitely superior to a face covering,” said Dr. Stéphane Perron, a medical specialist at Quebec’s national public health institute (INSPQ). “It was in all our documents that the mask is considered superior, that’s very clear.”
Perron said he suspects the general public was never specifically told to opt for medical masks because of the shortage at the start of the pandemic.Dr. Matthew Oughton, an attending physician in the division of infectious diseases at the Jewish General Hospital, pointed out government websites — provincial, federal, and in the United States — still generally say people should be wearing non-medical masks.
“The reason to do it this way, to not have the public wear medical masks, is the concern about the necessity for health-care workers, particularly those giving direct care to people who have confirmed COVID,” he said.
The difference between medical masks and face coverings is the former acts as a filter for both the wearer and anyone in their vicinity, whereas face coverings offer little protection to the wearer, their efficiency relying instead on a group effort. The Quebec government said as much when it implemented mandatory mask-wearing in July, asking Quebecers to protect each other.However, Oughton said some studies may show evidence face coverings provide at least a bit of protection to the user.
“By no means is the science clear on this,” he said. “But there’s one hint that people who wear face coverings, even if they got sick, tended to get somewhat less sick than people who didn’t wear face coverings.”
“So the idea being, perhaps — and again, this is a maybe — people who wear face coverings are getting a lower amount of virus that they’re being exposed to and further, that that lower amount tends to generate a less severe illness.”
If supply wasn’t a concern and everyone wore medical masks, then there would be more protective benefits to the mask-wearer directly — but that just isn’t the case, Oughton said.But you could always take these flights of fancy further — if supply wasn’t an issue, then everyone would have a million dollars in their pocket and life would be great.”
Still, Quebecers who want to wear medical masks can often find them at pharmacies, and those who are at risk of developing complications from COVID-19 are advised to use them.
Making masks fit better can reduce coronavirus exposure by 96 percent
By now, most people have gotten the message that wearing a face mask is one way to help stop the spread of COVID-19. But now health officials are taking the masking message a step further: Don’t just wear a mask, wear it well.To get more news about mask supplier, you can visit tnkme.com official website.
Taking steps to improve the way medical masks fit can protect wearers from about 96 percent of the aerosol particles thought to spread the coronavirus, a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. That’s provided both people are wearing masks. But even if only one person is wearing a mask tweaked to fit snugly, the wearer is protected from 64.5 percent to 83 percent of potentially virus-carrying particles, the researchers report February 10 in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
“I know some of you are both tired of hearing about masks, as well as tired of wearing them,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said February 10 during a White House briefing. But scientists have learned in the past year how effective masks can be to protect people from catching COVID-19, she said. “The bottom line is this: Masks work, and they work best when they have a good fit and are worn correctly.”That message is increasingly crucial as more transmissible coronavirus variants — including ones first detected in South Africa and the United Kingdom — are beginning to spread more widely in the United States (SN: 2/5/21).
Plenty of studies have already demonstrated that masks cut down on the amount of spit particles that may spray others when a person breathes, talks, coughs or sneezes (SN: 6/26/20). Still, photos and videos show that air and droplets often escape from the tops, sides and bottoms of ill-fitting masks. “Even a small gap can degrade the performance of your mask by 50 percent,” says Linsey Marr, an environmental engineer at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
Good masks have both good filtration and good fit, she says. “Good filtration removes as many particles as possible, and a good fit means that there are no leaks around the sides of your mask, where air — and viruses — can leak through.”
Several recent studies, have demonstrated that some pretty simple measures to improve fit also cut down aerosol emissions. Those measures include using ear savers, pantyhose or mask fitters, or putting a cloth mask over a medical mask.Those studies showed that wearing a mask protects other people from what the wearer spews out. But John Brooks, an infectious diseases physician and the chief medical officer for the CDC’s COVID-19 emergency response, and colleagues wanted to know whether those tricks to make masks fit better had any effect on protecting the mask wearer.
So the researchers set up two manikins facing each other six feet apart. One manikin served as the source, “exhaling” via a tube aerosol particles of saltwater of a size that could carry the coronavirus. (No viruses were used in the experiment.) The other manikin was the receiver.
The researchers measured how many saline droplets reached a mouthpiece in the receiving manikin that represented its nose and throat. In some experiments, the team put medical masks on just one of the manikins. In others, both wore masks. The team tried two scenarios to make the mask fit better: knotting the ear loops close to the mask and tucking in the ends to eliminate side gaps; and wearing a cloth mask over the medical mask.
Scarcity of key material squeezes medical mask manufacturing
Rachel Spray is still grieving the loss of her fellow nurse who died after being exposed to the novel coronavirus at Kaiser Permanente Fresno Medical Center in California. Now, as she stands in front of the gleaming glass and concrete hospital, she says she “dreads going in there” and fears she’ll be next.To get more news about surgical mask supplier, you can visit tnkme.com official website.
That’s because like those in many U.S. hospitals, management is rationing supplies, she says, keeping medical-grade masks under lock and key.
White House officials say U.S. hospitals have all the medical supplies needed to battle the deadly virus, but front-line health care workers, hospital officials and even the Food and Drug Administration say shortages persist. Critical shortfalls of medical N95 respirators, commonly referred to as N95 masks, and other protective gear started in March, when the pandemic hit New York. Pressure on the medical supply chain continues today, and in “many ways things have only gotten worse,” the American Medical Association’s president, Dr. Susan Bailey, said in a recent statement.N95s are still in a shortage,” said Mike Schiller, the American Hospital Association’s senior director for supply chains. “It’s certainly not anywhere near pre-COVID levels.”
Early in the pandemic the White House failed to heed stark warnings, specifically about N95s, from high-level administration officials. The Associated Press has found the administration took months to sign contracts with companies that make the crucial component inside these masks: meltblown textile. Meltblowing is the manufacturing process that turns plastic into the dense mesh that makes N95 masks effective at blocking vanishingly small particles, including viruses.
Even today, manufacturers say the Trump administration hasn’t made the long-term investments they need in order to ramp up to full capacity. Meanwhile, the administration allowed meltblown exports to slip out of the country as the pandemic, and the demand for masks, soared.Manufacturers say they risk significant losses if they invest millions in machinery, raw materials, new employees and factory space to churn out a product projected to have a short-lived demand, without assurances that the government will continue to buy their meltblown textile after the need for N95s recedes post-pandemic.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that we’re going to guarantee purchases in 2021 or whatever date you pick,” said Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, who heads the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force. He denies there are shortages.
Meltblown textiles are used in everything from diapers to air conditioners. Electrostatically charging meltblown gives it the ability to capture particles too tiny to be filtered by regular masks.
A study published this summer in the medical journal The Lancet found that front-line workers without N95 masks who cared for COVID-19 patients have the highest risk of infection.
“The initial lack of personal protective equipment in nursing homes, and lack of infection control practices in general, contributed to a general community spread across the country,” said Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Andrew T. Chan, one of the authors.
But that personal protective equipment just wasn’t available early in the pandemic when demand for the disposable masks and gowns exploded. It still isn’t.
Before COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the government estimated that the U.S. would need more than 5 billion N95 respirators per year in a pandemic. In March, the Department of Health and Human Services said the demand would be about 3.5 billion.
Those estimates were based on N95 manufacturer recommendations and hospital best practices that dictated health care workers use one mask per patient visit, so a single nurse could go through perhaps a dozen a day. But due to shortages, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instructed health care providers to reuse them.
Covid-19 masks: Which mask is best for you
Think of masks as the newest trendy accessory that can save your life -- and the lives of those you love.To get more news about nonmedical dust proof mask, you can visit tnkme.com official website.
But instead of what pattern, logo or slogan you display, choose your mask based on its effectiveness against the deadly coronavirus in the environment you are in.
Guidelines on how to help you make that choice should be out by midspring, according to Jonathan Szalajda, deputy director at the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, which is part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Working closely with government agencies, industry stakeholders and ASTM International, an international technical standards organization, the standards will apply to filter efficiency, sizing and fit, cleaning and recommended period of use or reuse.Made from fibers woven with an electrical charge that can trap errant particles -- like a sock that sticks to your pants in the dryer -- studies have shown N95-type respirators are currently at the top of the line when it comes to filtering large and small particles. Masks in this category are also known as "filtering facepiece respirators" or "disposable respirators."
What would happen if every American wore an N95-type mask for four weeks in risky settings like being indoors?
"It would stop the epidemic," Dr. Abraar Karan, an internal medicine physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
N95 respirators come in many sizes to accommodate various face shapes. When fitted to the wearer's face and worn properly, N95-type masks can trap 95% of particles around 0.3 microns, studies have shown. SARS CoV-2 can be as small as 0.1 micron in diameter -- that's about 4 millionths of an inch.
While it may seem that N95 filters would miss the tiny Covid particles, that's not so. Most bits of virus exit the lungs encased inside larger respiratory droplets, typically much bigger than 0.3 microns.Even those that become aerosolized are easily captured. Due to a natural phenomenon called Brownian motion, such minute particles don't travel in straight lines. Instead they bounce around in a zigzag fashion and are easily caught in the N95's electrostatic filter.
While some experts are calling for a nationwide rollout of N95 masks, such masks are currently reserved for health care professionals on the front lines of caring for Covid-19 patients. That's partly due to a shortage of such masks, which are designed to be worn once and discarded, but also due to the training needed to fit and wear the mask properly.
"In a health care setting, there's an advantage because there's a degree of sophisticated training to inform people how to properly wear respirators which doesn't exist in a public setting," NPPTL's Szalajda said.
According to the CDC, a few other respirators also meet or exceed the 95% efficacy level: the N99, N100, R95, R99, R100, P95, P99 and P100 masks. Some of these devices -- which can look like gas masks -- have received an emergency use authorization and can be used in nonsurgical settings during shortages of N95 masks.
What the science says about lifting mask mandates
A sign is still posted on the front door of the Wolfeboro Food Co-op that reads, “Face masks required.” Until recently, another sign had hung directly below it, explaining how the New Hampshire market was following federal policy.To get more news about Quality Medical Mask, you can visit tnkme.com official website.
Erin Perkins, manager of the shop, removed that second sign on 14 May — the day after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that fully vaccinated individuals, in most situations, no longer need to wear a mask. “We weren’t expecting that,” says Perkins. “It puts us in a precarious position. We were not about to start asking people if they are vaccinated or not.”
New Hampshire was the last state in New England to start mandating mask wearing in public to reduce the spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. And on 16 April, it became the first in the region to lift that mandate, joining several other states around the country that were loosening their pandemic-related restrictions. Cities and businesses in New Hampshire could still set their own policies, and Perkins wasn’t comfortable changing things right away. Even after the CDC announced its latest guidelines — just two weeks after communicating that vaccinated people should continue to mask up indoors — Perkins wasn’t personally comfortable with unmasked people in her shop. She also knows that several customers have immune systems that are compromised, and emerging research suggests that people in this group are still at risk even after vaccination1.Until we feel better about the state of things — until the numbers make a little bit more sense to us, we have decided to wait,” she says, even if that means dealing with testy customers.
Anne Hoen, an epidemiologist at Dartmouth College in nearby Hanover, can understand Perkins’s caution. She says that both the state and federal moves were probably a little too early. Hoen works in New Hampshire but lives just across the border in Vermont, where a state-wide indoor mask mandate remained in force until mid-May, despite Vermont having a lower rate of hospitalizations than practically anywhere else in the country. In the wake of the CDC’s announcement, Vermont Governor Phil Scott relaxed the mandate for fully vaccinated individuals.
The weakening policies are out of step with those of many other countries. Germany strengthened its mask requirements at the end of April, for example. It was facing a slowdown in vaccination rates and a surge in cases. Spain tightened its requirements at the end of March.
The evidence is clear that masks cut down on COVID-19 deaths, but nearly a year and a half into the pandemic and with vaccination coverage climbing in many places, public-health scientists and officials are still struggling to get people — particularly unvaccinated people — to wear masks at appropriate times. Average mask use across the United States has been declining since mid-February. Meanwhile, infection rates in some places have increased. A patchwork of policies and mixed messages from both politicians and public-health officials has resulted in confusion, consternation and a mess of data to interpret. “We’re all over the map,” says Monica Gandhi, an infectious-disease physician at the University of California, San Francisco. “That’s been the problem this entire pandemic. We’ve been making it up as we go along.”
It wasn’t until late April, for example, that the US government finally distinguished between indoor and outdoor mask use in its recommendations, even though the science had been clear for months that the risk of transmission was much lower outdoors2. And now, after the CDC released its latest revision, agency director Rochelle Walensky noted that it could change its mask guidance yet again. Hoen and other epidemiologists warn that it is very difficult to reinstate a rule after it has been revoked.
Mask use will continue for this pandemic, and it’s likely to become a common response to future outbreaks. So researchers are trying to get a handle on what the science says about how to encourage people to wear them. As the COVID-19 pandemic enters a new phase, scientists around the world are accessing the accumulated data and asking what makes some policies more effective than others, and probing when and how they need to change.
Gandhi is among those who emphasize that mask messaging should evolve in light of rising vaccination rates. Officials should begin relaxing restrictions to give people hope and to motivate vaccination, she says. But changes need to be made carefully.
Diamond Jewelry Sales on Fire, According to NDC
Diamond jewelry sales rose by about 30% in the last three months—February through May—versus 2019, according to the Natural Diamond Council (NDC).To get more news about number necklace, you can visit koalaprint.com official website.
Perhaps less surprisingly, sales were nearly three times over last year, when the country was in the throes of the COVID-19 lockdown.
NDC CEO David Kellie says the sales numbers come from a mix of proprietary, public, and subscription sources. He notes they roughly track with the latest results from Signet Jewelers, in which comps rose 27.2% from the same quarter two years ago, as well as results from Mastercard SpendingPulse, which saw jewelry sales rise an amazing 44.7% over two years ago in May.Kellie says that the average price point is also higher; he attributes this rise to strong growth in the large-stone segment of the market.
He also says that there has “been a fair amount of growth” in sales to millennials. As far as gender goes, the sales are split, with both men and women buying diamonds in equal amounts.
He attributes the growth to a number of things: a general boom in weddings; continued reluctance to travel and engage in experience-related activities; and “more people out and about” and wanting to dress up.
“Over the last year, people have not created many memories. Now, they’re saying they want to go out and create new memories, and diamond jewelry is part of that desire.”
Of course, post-vaccine, travel may come back, and that could prove a challenge, Kellie says.
“If we connect diamond jewelry with travel and experiences, then we’ll stay culturally relevant. That is crucial for the industry.”
He notes the industry is well aware that demand has soared, with producers like De Beers and Alrosa increasing both rough prices and allocations. But the NDC wants the outside world to know how well things are going.
“The industry has been too focused on internal audiences,” says Kellie. “We need to focus more on external audiences. The industry knows what’s happening. But I don’t know that the broader press does.”
It gives you the right to embrace who you are, and by wearing a name necklace, you can show your pride in a stylish way.To get more news about name bracelet, you can visit koalaprint.com official website.
Custom name necklaces come in a variety of fonts and finishes and can even be embellished with diamonds or rhinestones. Although popular names are easy to find, there are plenty of manufacturers who specialize in unique names or have different spellings.
Our buying guides introduce you to the various styles and finishes available and finally include a review of some of our favorites. Our top choice, Awe Gift Personalized Name necklace, is made of hypoallergenic metal that is corrosion-resistant and tarnish.Most manufacturers have a collection of premiere names, common or currently popular. For people with unique names, accent marks, or different spellings, you will likely need a custom piece made by a jeweler.
The traditional name necklace consists of a name in the form of a horizontal stripe consisting of a chain which is joined by the first and last letters. New iterations present the name as a vertical bar, in which it more closely resembles a pendant. While less common, vertical styles are considered contemporary, and depending on their style, may be the trend.
Metal
Name necklaces are available in stainless steel and can be gold-, silver- or rose-gold-tone with plating. Solid silver, gold, or platinum name necklaces cost far more, although they last a lifetime. Cheap name necklaces, on the other hand, can break within a few years, especially with everyday wear.
Chain length
The name necklace usually has a chain between 14 and 18 inches. Depending on the wearer, this means that they rest either above or below the clavicle. Some manufacturers offer more than one chain length, while others have standard lengths.
Font style
The most common font style for name necklaces is a forward-leaning script. Contemporary name necklaces can contain scripts, italics, or even print letters. They are also available in a variety of fonts, many of which are modern or pointy.
Pendant size
The average name bar is two to five inches long, depending on the style as well as the length of the name. The short styling is popular for those who like to make sense jewelry for everyday wear. For those who like statement grinding, you can go as big as you want.
Graceful style
The graceful styles of name necklaces are popular if you like a little bling in your life. They feature diamond- or rhinestone-enclosed letters on the full name or embellish on the first letter. Other ornate styles have birthstones.
The packaging
Like most jewelry items, name necklaces usually come in attractive packaging so that they are ready for a gift. Affordable necklaces feature simple chiffon or velour bags, while premium styles feature jewelry boxes.
17 Very Sweet Personalized-Jewelry Gifts
Jewelry is literally close to our hearts; some of us never take it off. Whether it’s a ring or necklace that holds deep sentimental meaning, there’s no denying that certain pieces are more than just accessories — they’re tangible reminders of the people we love and memories we hold dear. And, adding customization into the equation further ensures that the meaning of a bauble is preserved for generations to come.To get more news about Custom Name Necklace, you can visit koalaprint.com official website.
There are plenty of personalized jewelry options to be had across a multitude of budgets. Ahead, find such a variety of bespoke finery from cheeky initial necklaces to secret-message stacking rings — each perfect for gifting a VIP, whether that’s you or someone else.
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.
We believe that all dress is political and contains codes related to constructed social conventions around beauty, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and race. This is not necessarily limited to jewelry. How we present ourselves contains a multitude of signals that affect how we move through the world. One of the motivations for this project is to highlight self-styling as an understudied anthropological tool for understanding how people make meaning from their identities and their lives.
Marcel: I grew up in Brooklyn, right across the street from a jewelry store owned by an Italian American man named Casale. It didn’t matter if I was on my way to school or to the corner bodega, I always stopped to marvel at the rows of glimmering nameplate pendants on display in the shop’s window. One of them, in particular, caught my eye: It was a double-plated necklace that spelled out the name “Maria” in a bubbly, diamond-encrusted script. I recall it being one of the first things I consciously remember observing was beautiful. I am also a twin and have spent much of my life being called by the wrong name, so having a nameplate has always had a dual function for me—both decadent and deeply practical. I got my first nameplate at age 10, after convincing my mom that I deserved one when I did well on the citywide tests. It was a style I associated with coming-of-age events as well, whether birthdays, communions, graduations, or other achievements. Many of my Puerto Rican, Black, Italian, and Middle Eastern peers had one, too.
Isabel: Though my father received a nameplate baby bracelet at birth and nameplates were something I was aware of all my life, my fascination with the style and desire to own one myself is actually much more a product of the time and place where I was raised. I grew up in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the ’90s through the mid-2000s, a peak time in the popularity of nameplates, due in part to the growing influence of hip-hop on the mainstream. Neither of my parents was from the East Coast, and we moved around often for their work. Nameplates were one of the most consistently popular aesthetics among the places I lived and went to school, and were also an accessory that transcended a lot of other differences. As I grappled with my own identity formation and sense of rootlessness, I loved that nameplates carried a sense of community and a shared visual language. The aisles of my local malls were lined with kiosks where you could order a nameplate to pick up that same day. My first nameplate was made from base metal, and in the summer, it turned my neck green.