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COVID-19, REAL INSIGHTS: CONSOLIDATING REAL INFORMATION AND BRINGING THE HYPE INTO A RATIONAL SPACE

As we move into week 2+ of COVID-19 lockdown, and with the short supply of masks in the country, you may wish to be considering stocking up on a supply of masks for your staff as stocks run low. In conjunction with a partner company we can provide KN95 and 3 ply surgical and scuba material face masks and protective space suits. 

The Council for Disease Control USA(CDC) Decision to Wear Masks

The CDC was slow with their initial recommendation, however have advised all people in the USA to wear masks when in a social setting. Click hereto read more.

You can read more here if uncertain about the benefit of using a mask.

The CDC continues to study the spread and effects of the novel coronavirus across the United States. We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms (“asymptomatic”) and that even those who eventually develop symptoms (“pre-symptomatic”) can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms. This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity—for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing—even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms. In light of this new evidence, CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.

U.S. government scientists have said that the tiny droplets of saliva people spray into the air when they speak could be enough to spread deadly coronavirus. It’s an unsettling finding but an important one when it comes to keeping the virus under control around the world.

Researchers from the National Institute of Health made the discovery using laser imaging with high-speed videography to demonstrate how thousands of droplets far too tiny for the naked eye to detect are emitted into the air during normal speech. This is even true while uttering brief phrases like “stay healthy,” which saw 360 saliva droplets released in the study.

Although the scientists couldn’t analyze the droplets to see if they carry coronavirus particles, their size was large enough to be carrying a range of respiratory pathogens, including those of influenza and measles. The scientists added that wearing a damp, homemade cloth face mask significantly reduced the excretion of droplets, and none of the spoken words created a droplet rise above the background under such conditions

In fact, they stated that speaking can produce more of these droplets than the seemingly more obvious transmission mode of coughing. These saliva droplets could well pose a risk to other people if the speaker is infected with the virus. And while the study has yet to be peer-reviewed, it could have major implications when it comes to stemming the pandemic.

Minimise The Risk of Spreading

Ben Cowling, a professor of epidemiology and a mask researcher at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, has done enough research on masks to know that they’re not a perfect public-health tool, especially because people often don’t wear them correctly. Cowling however went on to say “I can imagine that we could find something even better than a surgical mask, because the surgical mask wasn’t designed especially for this purpose,” suggesting that more research should be done to find out which fabrics best catch viruses. In order to minimise the risk, now and the coming months, many experts have advised the use of a face mask in public areas.

From a risk management mindset, should we not be erring on the side of caution when we are presented with such unknown risk and when making the statement that as many as 25 percent of people who contract the coronavirus (COVID-19) may not show symptoms, which means they don’t know they’re sick and could still be spreading it to others. A recent article in the medical journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine states a similar rationale.

The universal use of mouth and nose covering with masks is a low-risk intervention that can only assist in reducing the spread of this terrible illness. If everyone wears a mask, individuals protect one another, reducing overall community transmission. It could even remind people not to touch their faces after touching potentially contaminated surfaces.

Last week Friday, American Lung Association Chief Medical Officer Albert Rizzo, M.D., said in an emailed statement that the wearing of the masks by all individuals can give some degree of barrier protection from respiratory droplets that are coughed or sneezed around them. Early reports show that the virus can live in droplets in the air for up to one to three hours after an infected individual has left an area. Covering your face will help prevent these droplets from getting into the air and infecting others.

Protecting Employees

To protect your employees a few options are available to provide everyone with a face mask.  We can arrange sufficient quantities to be delivered wherever required. We can also send these masks to a central collection or distribution point so each employee and family/member receive their masks. Depending on your location, we are restricted in certain situations to courier operational protocols.

The Material Face Mask

The Food and Drug Administration in the US has stated it would formally authorise the use of KN95 masks by health care workers fighting coronavirus, a shift in policy on the Chinese-made masks prompted by the urgent need for protective equipment.

The Disposable Surgical Face Masks

The Department of Health and Human Services said last month that the US would require an estimated 3.5 billion N95 masks to combat the pandemic, and on-hand inventories represent only a tiny fraction of that. Last week, the FDA had excluded the devices from a list of foreign-certified masks it said could be used as acceptable substitutes for the highly sought-after N95 respirator mask. The announcement marks a significant reversal.

Although the largest manufacturers have signed contracts with federal agencies to produce huge volumes of respirators, those masks could take months to arrive. In the meantime, desperate doctors and nurses have been forced to clean and reuse respirators or even fashion jury-rigged masks from bandanas or strips of cloth.

Hospitals across the United States are running out of N95 masks, which filter at least 95 percent of particles that are 0.3 microns or larger, including the new coronavirus. N95 masks are tested and certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, a research agency that is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Regulated by the Chinese government, they are almost identical in performance to N95 masks. There are slight differences in their specifications, like a variation in the maximum pressure the masks must be able to withstand as a person inhales and exhales.

The C.D.C. lists KN95 masks as a suitable alternative when N95s are not available. The F.D.A. said KN95 masks were eligible for authorization if they met certain criteria, including documentation that they were authentic. More masks are available because coronavirus transmission in China has been reduced.

Non-woven Protective Space Suit

Available for those on the frontline, 90gmf non-woven protective space suit that can be worn for 7-10 days and washed thereafter to a maximum of 20 washable cycles. The suit comes in 3 sizes. While stocks last. Minimum Order 500.

Vitamin C for Immunity

It has been recorded that one of the main interventions in Wuhan was the use of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Read reports here.  Available in 3 sizes (180g, 350g -for 2 people or 720g -family bulk pack) powder form of pharmaceutical grade vitamin C ascorbate which provides 2021mg of vitamin C per serving. 

Right now, vitamin C is low in the country as many providers have run out of stock.  In addition we have sole access to supplying the most advanced immune supplement (27 different ingredients) which has been used for people with compromised immune systems (6 weeks lead time for large quantities as it is manufactured in a certified lab). 

Wishing you the best of health and be safe.