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Masks and school
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amother
Aquamarine


 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 10:56 am
thriver wrote:
This is what I posted to my friends two weeks ago. I’ll post it again here.

“Ladies,
Please keep your masks on.
We are the people who wear long sleeves in the summer. Tights. Sheitels. Our men wear woolen Tzitzis. Hats. Jackets. No matter the weather.
Uncomfortable? Do you want to talk about uncomfortable? I am sitting here in Dana Farber Cancer Center waiting for my annual breast MRI. I can handle the mask. I wear it for you. Please wear it for me.”


Our children are trained to wear things that are highly uncomfortable. We can do the mask thing. Stop making a mountain out of molehill.


There's a difference being hot from wearing a wig and long sleeves and not being able to breath and getting dizzy from wearing a mask.
It is not making a mountain out of a molehill, wearing a mask all day is a very big deal. Especially for those with asthma, anxiety, claustrophobia.
I have terrible seasonal allergies and I literally feel faint from wearing a mask. My doctor said not to wear a mask only in very well air conditioned places.
So don't say we're making a mountain out of a molehill.
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Mothers




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 10:59 am
amother [ Aquamarine ] wrote:
I heard this from nurses themselves, so don't tell me it's a myth. They're dizzy and not themselves and they cant perform their best when wearing a mask all day. They take frequent breaks to stand in front of a fan to get to themselves a bit.
We breath through our nose and mouth, they're not supposed to be covered all day.


The masks worn by medical professionals in hospital situations are not the same masks, as those being worn by the general public, so cannot be compared. The nurses are wearing N95 masks, which are designed to create a very tight seal and significantly limit what gets in. (This is to keep them safe in a more dangerous situation, where social distancing is not possible.) The simple cloth masks or paper surgical masks, worn by most people are loosely woven and do not create the same tight seal. That is why they are not as effective in preventing virus transmission, and social distancing is still necessary. They have proven very effective, however, in slowing down the rate of virus transmission- and they protect others from the wearers, even more than they protect the wearers themselves.

Please read the information, which is out there, carefully. Please do not go by anecdotal evidence (based upon very small sample size) or by your own feelings about this . . .
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LovesHashem




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:07 am
amother [ Aquamarine ] wrote:
There's a difference being hot from wearing a wig and long sleeves and not being able to breath and getting dizzy from wearing a mask.
It is not making a mountain out of a molehill, wearing a mask all day is a very big deal. Especially for those with asthma, anxiety, claustrophobia.
I have terrible seasonal allergies and I literally feel faint from wearing a mask. My doctor said not to wear a mask only in very well air conditioned places.
So don't say we're making a mountain out of a molehill.


Obviously there are exemptions. Ideally you should not go out for your own health if you have asthma. Just saying.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:10 am
amother [ Aquamarine ] wrote:
I heard this from nurses themselves, so don't tell me it's a myth. They're dizzy and not themselves and they cant perform their best when wearing a mask all day. They take frequent breaks to stand in front of a fan to get to themselves a bit.
We breath through our nose and mouth, they're not supposed to be covered all day.


I'm just saying this is what I found, not doing any deep research.
I won't dismiss what you're hearing.
I'm finding it hard to wear a mask in the summer but because my face sweats so much.


Last edited by PinkFridge on Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:13 am; edited 1 time in total
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amother
OP


 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:12 am
amother [ Aquamarine ] wrote:
There's a difference being hot from wearing a wig and long sleeves and not being able to breath and getting dizzy from wearing a mask.
It is not making a mountain out of a molehill, wearing a mask all day is a very big deal. Especially for those with asthma, anxiety, claustrophobia.
I have terrible seasonal allergies and I literally feel faint from wearing a mask. My doctor said not to wear a mask only in very well air conditioned places.
So don't say we're making a mountain out of a molehill.


Also for sensory people.
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southernbubby




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:15 am
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Some Experts Say Face Shields Better Than Masks for Coronavirus Protection
The advantages of wearing a clear plastic face covering, and how to make your own in minutes
by Renée Bacher and Christina Ianzito, AARP, June 15, 2020 | Comments: 21

Two women wearing a protective face mask and a plastic face shield on a London street.
DOMINIC LIPINSKI - PA IMAGES/GETTY

En español | By now we know we should be wearing face masks to protect others from potentially deadly infection when we leave the house. But face masks can be hot, and they can irritate the skin, fog glasses, make it difficult for some to breathe and create a world without smiles. It also can be difficult for people who have hearing loss to communicate when mouths are covered, muffling voices and hiding facial expressions.

Are clear plastic face shields, most frequently used in health care settings, a better option?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend wearing “cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.” But some health experts say shields appear to be very effective at preventing infection — maybe even more effective than masks — for someone going about regular daily activities and not in a high-risk health care setting.

For the latest coronavirus news and advice go to AARP.org/coronavirus.

Amesh Adalja, M.D., a pandemic preparedness expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, says, “There's a lot of at least biological possibility to suspect that [shields] are definitely better than homemade face masks, and maybe even better than other types of masks as well, because they not only prevent you from spreading it … [and] because it also covers your eyes, it provides more protection to the mucus membranes of your face where you might be getting infected.”

James Cherry, M.D., a distinguished research professor and infectious disease expert at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, says that while experts aren't yet sure about how vulnerable our eyes are to infection from this coronavirus, “With many viruses, the eyes are important.” He points to measles and adenoviruses as examples of viruses that are known to infect people through their eyes.

DIY face shield tips
There are many online videos showing how to make your own shield in a few minutes, with different variations: a Canadian DIYer uses plastic binding covers you find at office supply stores; others use plastic bottles. (Note that these are not medical-grade or approved by any official health agency.)

This is one how to make a shield from an empty soda bottle.

You'll need:

A 2-liter clear plastic bottle
Cutting tool or scissors
Small piece of weather stripping (others use packaging foam)
Hole puncher
String or ribbon
Directions:

Cut off the end of the bottle a few inches from the bottom
Cut off the top of the bottle, keeping a bit of the curvature, which will go under the chin
Cut up the middle, so it becomes a somewhat flat piece of plastic
Trim off sharp edges, and narrow a bit if necessary to fit the width of your face
Peel off the backing of a piece of weather stripping and stick it to the top edge, which will go against your forehead
Punch a hole at the top on either side, and thread a string or ribbon through
Tie it around your head
Another benefit, says Adalja: With a mask, you may find yourself constantly adjusting it and therefore touching your face and possibly transferring the virus from your hands, but wearing a shield “doesn't really put you in a position where you're touching your face so much, because it's not as cumbersome to wear."

And finally, Adalja adds, “If you walk down the sidewalk, you can find lots of masks that are just discarded there, which are an infection control risk for other people. Whereas a face shield is something that people can just clean themselves and reuse."

A recent opinion piece in JAMA by Eli Perencevich, M.D., a professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, and two of his colleagues pointed to such benefits of shields for infection prevention, and noted that “face shields appear to significantly reduce the amount of inhalation exposure to influenza virus, another droplet-spread respiratory virus. In a simulation study, face shields were shown to reduce immediate viral exposure by 96 percent when worn by a simulated health care worker within 18 inches of a cough.” In an April 19 tweet Perencevich wrote, “Biggest benefit of face shields would be inside crowded office situations where air exchanges aren't ideal."

Another benefit? With warmer weather, many may also find a face shield attached to a headband or cap cooler to wear than a cloth mask.

Some members of the public are taking such arguments to heart — choosing shields especially for their ability to keep the entire face visible.

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Lauren Lek, head of school at Academy of Our Lady of Peace, in San Diego, plans to have her 750 returning faculty and students wear face shields at school rather than masks this August. “Safety and health for our community is a priority for us in reopening,” she says. “As soon as we saw from the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and our local public health office that face shields would be an acceptable alternative to face masks, we knew this was a direction we wanted to move in.”

Noting that face-to-face interaction is key to the education her school provides, Lek adds that face shields are better than masks for students with learning differences, including autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), because they allow for full visibility of facial expressions that can help them read and understand social cues.

The school has purchased more than 10 different types of face shields to test before classes restart, Lek says, with each posing challenges in terms of clarity, fogging, ease of cleaning and reuse. They also shouldn't cause headaches when worn 10 hours a day. “With each product we try, we are getting closer to the best option for the start of school in August.”

Double protection?
Some people are choosing both infection-prevention methods. Hope Taitz, an investment manager in New York City who travels frequently for business, began wearing a face mask and face shield together when she saw the pandemic starting to unfold while logging 100,000 miles of travel in January and February. She said one of the best things she saw traveling in Asia were deep bubble umbrellas that can cover you from head to midsection.

You're likely to find only health care workers wearing both a shield and a mask simultaneously, however. “I don't wear the shield alone,” says Anne Mary Orr, a dentist in private practice in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. “At work, the whole point of the shield is to keep particulate matter off the mask. The N95 mask I wear under it helps filter breathing the virus. Our greatest risk is to inhale an aerosol at work, more so than focusing on the droplets.”

Kristi Carnahan, a registered nurse in the Emergency Department at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California, says she also wears a mask beneath her plastic face shield to provide more “protection against anything in the air getting into your mouth or nose as you breathe."

That reasoning may make sense in a health care setting, says Adalja, but “I don't think you get much added benefit to wearing a mask if you've already got a face shield on, for the average person.” The odds of the viral particles floating upwards under your shield are a long shot for most of us, he adds: “Someone would have to stand underneath you and sneeze up into you. It would be an odd circumstance that would cause that.”

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Keeping the mouth visible
Carnahan acknowledges that masks are difficult for people like herself who have hearing difficulties. She says she finds herself asking colleagues to repeat themselves frequently when she cannot see their mouths. “It is a reality for many who rely on lip reading or ASL [American Sign Language] that masks make communicating much harder,” she notes, “especially because facial expressions are an integral part of American Sign Language."

While it doesn't explicitly recommend the use of face shields, The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) recently sent a letter to CDC Director Robert Redfield asking the agency to emphasize the need for clear face masks and other communication aids in health care settings to help people with hearing and other communication disorders. “If a patient doesn't hear/understand properly, there could be serious consequences like adverse medical events,” says ASHA spokesperson Francine Pierson. Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, for one, has begun using special masks with transparent cutouts making the mouth visible for health care workers speaking to patients with hearing loss.

Whatever you decide to wear to prevent infection when you're out and about, keep in mind that staying safe from COVID-19 means putting in place multiple safeguards, including thorough handwashing.

The most important safety measure, though, is social distancing, Cherry says. “The virus is in these droplets, and they don't go very far — they fall to the ground. So that's why [staying] 6 feet away from others is the most important thing that we can all do."

Where to buy shields
Shields come attached to hats or attach to glasses or headbands. You can buy them online, often for less than $20, at sites such as Gearbest, Pro-Tex and Amazon. Some manufacturers, like RealShield by Racing Optics Inc., are making face shields with UV coatings.

"For optimal protection,” Perencevich and his colleagues assert in their JAMA article, “the shield should extend below the chin anteriorly, to the ears laterally, and there should be no exposed gap between the forehead and the shield's headpiece.”

Also of Interest
Where to buy masks and other supplies online
What you need to know about coronavirus
Staying safe as businesses reopen
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amother
Jade


 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:16 am
Mothers wrote:
The masks worn by medical professionals in hospital situations are not the same masks, as those being worn by the general public, so cannot be compared. The nurses are wearing N95 masks, which are designed to create a very tight seal and significantly limit what gets in. (This is to keep them safe in a more dangerous situation, where social distancing is not possible.) The simple cloth masks or paper surgical masks, worn by most people are loosely woven and do not create the same tight seal. That is why they are not as effective in preventing virus transmission, and social distancing is still necessary. They have proven very effective, however, in slowing down the rate of virus transmission- and they protect others from the wearers, even more than they protect the wearers themselves.

Please read the information, which is out there, carefully. Please do not go by anecdotal evidence (based upon very small sample size) or by your own feelings about this . . .


I was recently in 2 different NYC hospitals and the nurses were all just wearing regular surgical masks. I’m assuming that they only wear the N95 masks when dealing with Covid + cases.


Last edited by amother on Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:16 am; edited 1 time in total
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southernbubby




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:16 am
Basically, if you don't want to read the whole article, shields may be the way to go.
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southernbubby




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:17 am
amother [ Jade ] wrote:
I was recently in 2 different NYC hospitals and the nurses were all just wearing regular surgical masks. I’m assuming that they only wear the N95 masks when dealing with Covid + cases.


True
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amother
Honeydew


 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:25 am
amother [ Aquamarine ] wrote:
I heard this from nurses themselves, so don't tell me it's a myth. They're dizzy and not themselves and they cant perform their best when wearing a mask all day. They take frequent breaks to stand in front of a fan to get to themselves a bit.
We breath through our nose and mouth, they're not supposed to be covered all day.


Oh come on. Im a nurse, one of those who wear an N95 and feel like I cant breathe.

1) even when I feel I cant breathe and cant get enough air, I actually am. Countless studies have proven that the carbin dioxide does not elevate from mask wearing. It is supremely uncomfortable but not dangerous.

2) DO NOT COMPARE a medical grade N95 mask with a cloth or paper mask for the general populace. Just dont. You can definitely breathe in those masks, put on your big girl panties y'all, and teach your kids that being uncomfortable is something they will sometimes have to be.
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thriver




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:27 am
amother [ Khaki ] wrote:
Calling it a molehill or invalidating people who are trying to explain why they cannot wear a mask for hours, is not convincing or solving the issue. It's actually highly inconsiderate.
Certain things we don't force on people and personal space and the feeling of the ability to breathe is one of them.


I removed the mountain out of a molehill. I don’t mean to be invalidating and I’m sure there are people who have more difficulty than others... my point is thought that the majority of us and our children will be able to handle it as they do many other stringencies.

Just for some background, I am 33 years old and I’ve been through chemo, radiation, and a mastectomy (diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 29). I have a friend a little older than myself who had a kidney transplant and has been wearing masks on public transportation long before it became the style. And no, neither of us “signed up for this.” When it is for ourselves, we can do it. So let’s try to do it for others.

Hatzlacha to all of you and IyH may all of us enjoy good health for many years to come.
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amother
Ruby


 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:27 am
amother [ Periwinkle ] wrote:
Why aren't they afraid of oxygen deprivation?


They're not afraid of oxygen deprivation because there's no evidence that a cloth mask could possibly cause oxygen deprivation. There is a small risk to people with pre-existing lung conditions wearing an N95 for prolonged periods. So if your kids have lung conditions, buy them cloth masks instead.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 11:55 am
southernbubby wrote:
Basically, if you don't want to read the whole article, shields may be the way to go.


I've seen full face shields. I've also seen the improvised 2 liter soda bottles and the latter? They seem really claustrophobic.
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amother
Mistyrose


 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 12:06 pm
Quote:
I'm googling and this is fascinating but no time to pursue. There are articles in leading papers, etc. saying that mask induced hypoxia is a myth and debunked. I found this study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p.....7822/
and read the premise and conclusions sections.

So far, it doesn't seem to be dangerous, in general.


This study does claim that wearing masks can be a danger to the pregnant women, and that if they need to wear a mask they must take breaks often.

The study mentioned that there is an increase in co2 levels for non pregnant people that wear masks.

So yeah maybe there is a reason to be wary of the mask and it might not be a myth Hi
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amother
Gold


 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 12:23 pm
shabbatiscoming wrote:
About wearing masks, are you all forgetting that surgeons have always worn masks to perform surgeries? And that can last hours and hours, obviouy depending on the surgery. They all are fine and still here to tell us about it.
So for anyone nervous about not being able to breath for a while, remember the wbove
Students in israel had to wear masks in school. There was a case, on the news, about a boy in a high school who was positive for covid. Everyone else in the school (there were 85 students and staff) was rested. And not one was positive. And the reason? The boy had been wearing his mask the entire time in school and the correct way as well.

It is not impossible. And if it saves lives, ehy the heck not?


Doctors performing surgery do not have to project their voices to a classroom full of students. I am a teacher and I don't know how I will be able to conduct a class like that. Not to mention that I have sensory issues.

That being said I am strongly in favor of the importance of wearing masks and I wear one whenever I am in a store or crowded area (though I have been shopping only minimally and avoiding crowds as much as possible). So I am not saying we should have school without masks.

It is not realistic for kids to wear masks all day in school, even if it is mandated and people believe it is important (which unfortunately many people don't). It will not be truly enforceable. The people who are going all over the place and to day camps etc without masks will not suddenly comply with wearing them all day in school. I disagree with what these people are doing, but it is the reality. So bottom line is there will be significant risk of transmission in schools. Trying to mitigate it in ways that are totally unrealistic is not helpful. Either we accept that level of risk, or decide the risk is too great and continue with distance learning. Personally I think can be a more effective teacher on Zoom than in school with masks. Not to mention that some schools are considering having only half the students come on each day and alternating. That makes it even less effective.
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amother
Honeydew


 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 12:34 pm
My kids kept complaining whe they had to wear masks. "Its hot, I cant breathe, they're gross...". Even the white cotton ones we
Got for free from the town.

Then I ordered them cute handmade soft cotton masks from etsy. Butterfly pattern for my daughter, superman for my son etc ...whaddya know all of a sudden theyre not so bad....kept on a whole lot longer
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Amarante




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 1:22 pm
PinkFridge wrote:
I've seen full face shields. I've also seen the improvised 2 liter soda bottles and the latter? They seem really claustrophobic.


I have face shields; KN95 masks; surgical masks and cloth masks made from quilting fabric with a pocket for a disposable filter.

Shields are very easy to wear - much easier than a mask since it isn't directly on your face so you aren't tempted to fiddle with it. In high risk situations I wear a mask and the shield.

For kids, you might buy them a mask from zazzle which is personalized with the motif of their choice. Tiaras, super-hero, flowers etc. Kids love costumes so this is a way of making the experience fun.

For others, just get over it. Asian countries wear masks routinely and have for years with no untoward effects. It's an adjustment. Per Goldman Sachs - hardly a leftwing source of information - if everyone wore masks, 5% of the GNP would be saved which would be a huge boost to the economy.

https://www.zazzle.com/s/shields





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thriver




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 2:20 pm
amother [ Honeydew ] wrote:
My kids kept complaining whe they had to wear masks. "Its hot, I cant breathe, they're gross...". Even the white cotton ones we
Got for free from the town.

Then I ordered them cute handmade soft cotton masks from etsy. Butterfly pattern for my daughter, superman for my son etc ...whaddya know all of a sudden theyre not so bad....kept on a whole lot longer


Love this! 👍🏻





(...If it were only trendy... what we wouldn’t do to be in style...)
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 3:40 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
I am in NJ, and our governor has already announced some mandatory changes for the upcoming school year. The idea of students wearing masks is obviously not a new one. There are provisions for students with disabilities and for the very young. But what about tweens who just can't handle being in a mask all day? Mine is refusing to go back to school that way. Even if you tell me she will get uses to it, how to get started? So far, she hasn't gone for more than fifteen minutes.

She is so excited to go back to school, but has said that this will kill it for her, and she won't be able to learn that way anyway because she will just be paying attention to her mask. And even if she stops, the second she starts talking she notices, so she won't be talking in school at all. She is so sad about school now.

So ridiculous. Sad Why can they allow day camps without masks for the kids and not school without masks for those same students?
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amother
Goldenrod


 

Post Fri, Jul 03 2020, 4:14 pm
ra_mom wrote:
So ridiculous. Sad Why can they allow day camps without masks for the kids and not school without masks for those same students?


Because camp is optional, we don’t frown on parents who keep their kids home.
Also teachers are having cows about the dangers of returning to school. Camp counselors tend to be young and not care.
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