Everyone wears masks now. Are they the right masks? As masks are not a replacement for distancing, one could argue it shouldn't matter. Don't make people feel confident they can interact with others safely as they probably can not. A better mask is still not a totally safe mask. However, as a product developer, I want people to have the better masks.
Social media talks about N95 respirators for all. I read about fitting requirements. I imagine the variety of mask sizes that would be required at schools. The idea that we should make ourselves as safe as possible from the virus resonates, but is a complex solution the right approach for non-medical settings and untrained people?
The information I find suggests regular surgical masks give similar safety from respiratory viruses compared to N95 masks. This scientific study included thousands of test subjects.
What surgeons use to prevent infections in their patients may still not be perfect. However, this is not a new problem requiring new technology. Well developed technology is available for sale that has been scaled up as a product that can go for $0.10 to $0.15. The surgical mask is a mature product.
Surgical masks are made of nonwoven polypropylene fibers melt bonded together. They are breathable while restricting the mobility of small particles.
As a past product developer, I know about disposable diapers. In addition to non-wovens similar to what is in surgical masks, disposable diapers also include the technology to contain viruses via hydrophilic and hydrophobic layers.
I think about wet wipes or dried out wet wipes. They might also provide a barrier.
I'm seeing hints that creative people are marketing anti-viral masks. I can't imagine anything much more exciting to work on short of a vaccine. One might hope that viral barriers can be improved, though gimmick marketing is the more likely scenario.
But, surgical masks exist. If much higher volumes of surgical masks are needed based on potential shortages, then new equipment next to the diaper factory can make more surgical masks. You'd think capitalism would cause this to happen. Maybe, government pushing is needed.
Surgical masks are designed to prevent virus spread. Regular people should be using surgical masks when they grocery shop given the Covid-19 threat. Once supply is robust, surgical masks should be sold at every checkout next the gum.
If America is like Japan and we start to see a culture of mask wearing politeness-- to prevent the infection of others-- then the market doesn't disappear if the virus goes away. Perhaps, that is an overly optimistic thought. Nonetheless, crises ranging from World War II to 9/11 have tended to build societal cohesiveness, and bring us together. These crises also tend to launch the next fads and trends.
If America is like Japan and we start to see a culture of mask wearing politeness-- to prevent the infection of others-- then the market doesn't disappear if the virus goes away. Perhaps, that is an overly optimistic thought. Nonetheless, crises ranging from World War II to 9/11 have tended to build societal cohesiveness, and bring us together. These crises also tend to launch the next fads and trends.
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