Why Can't Every Citizen Have a Gas Mask to Stop Future Pandemics?
For those people at serious risk from the virus, forget those silly face masks. Make a gas mask if you're truly serious. A good, full-face gas mask will cost over 220$. But a homemade gas mask can work really well if its built right and it can cost under 30$. Below, I list some DIY and informative Youtube videos I watched before making my gas mask. Making mine was easy. But just wearing a gas mask is not enough! Even if the virus is airborne but filtered through the mask, you can still infect yourself by other means. (See https://youtu.be/I5-dI74zxPg to see how easy surface-to-surface infection is!!!) The only normal way for you to get infected is if the virus gets though to your lungs, eyes, nose, or mouth. A good gas mask makes that impossible, and it keeps you from touching your face accidentally.
Mask and filter information, and DIY videos:
https://youtu.be/udzYUsiYH0k (Fogging up your homemade mask with your breath is a big issue. I had a plane to catch and so I was in too much of a hurry to improvise a good solution, so I just made a tube to breathe out of, but it wasn't fun. Making intake and exhaust valves is a more elegant solution, which is what this guy does in this DIY video. I haven't tried his method yet, but I it should work way better, I think. You can also separate the mask's interior into 2 parts, one for your eyes so your vision doesn't fog up, and then one around your mouth and nostrils so that fog is concentrated in the lower part of the mask.)
If the mask is to be air-tight, you can't let facial hair or your hairline get in the way. The mask must seal over your skin only. If you want to go more hardcore, you can tape the mask to your face, sealing it completely, in which case you would probably prefer to use medical tape for your skin's sake.
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The following, which I wrote below, I wrote on March 19th, so some of the information below may be out of date.
COVID-19 is going to kill more than influenza, and we don't have a vaccine for it like we do for influenza. (See all my sources below). For people over 85 years, the case-fatality rate ranges from 10% to 27%. (The case fatality rate is the number of deaths per number of actually diagnosed cases). Now because I'm in my twenties and healthy, if COVID-19 infects me, there is less than 1% chance it will kill me. Its unlikely that it would even make me seriously ill. BUT even if I don't die, because the virus spreads like no other, I would likely be responsible for someone's death simply by spreading the virus—or even worse, if I infect someone older or someone with respiratory problems.
When someone else's life—not just your own—depends on you, it really puts things into perspective. For this reason, and because I was traveling, I decided to make myself a homemade gas mask. I don't care if I look like an idiot wearing a mask if it means potentially saving lives and our economy.
Sources:
Severe Outcomes Among Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
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