topic Re: Medical masks in Community Chat

Medical masks

madzonie — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:12:07 GMT

I'm disturbed the price of disposable medical masks has skyrocketed! I used them while I was on chemo a couple years ago. Went to order more and the price has almost tripled.

Re: Medical masks

patbz — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:21:10 GMT

@madzonie : You do know that there is an epidemic and (at a minimum) everybody in China (more than 100 million people) are basically required to wear these. It's the law of supply and demand. Hope you find the masks you need at a fair price.

Re: Medical masks

Kachina624 — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:22:56 GMT

Supply and demand. I had some facial surgery last week with extensive bandaging. I joked that I'd just wear a mask since they're in vogue right now. The nurses gave me a plastic bag filled with them.

Maybe QVC should sell them done in cute prints?

Re: Medical masks

shoesnbags — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:27:09 GMT

@madzonie wrote:
I'm disturbed the price of disposable medical masks has skyrocketed! I used them while I was on chemo a couple years ago. Went to order more and the price has almost tripled.

@madzonie

I'm actually surprised that there were any available to order, given the run on these masks world-wide. My son was contacted by a colleague in Hong Kong, asking him if he could obtain masks, sanitary hand wipes, and similar products for him and his family. He gave DS his personal FedEx account # to charge the shipping.

DS told us that he was able to find everything but the masks. Shipping costs were so high that he called the man back (middle of the night in Hong Kong) and asked him if he was sure that he wanted to spend this much on shipping. After just a minute's hesitation, he gave my son the go ahead to send it.

So if you really need these masks and have found a source, I'd buy them in spite of the higher cost.

Re: Medical masks

Mz iMac — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:27:36 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:

Maybe QVC should sell them done in cute prints?

Re: Medical masks

Mz iMac — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:33:00 GMT

@shoesnbags @madzonie

In my neck of the woods, all the major pharmacies-CVS, Walgreens, local home grown pharmacies, supermarket pharmacies, etc. have them for FREE!

I have a whole bag full of them. I only wear mine during flu season.

Also, HomeDepot & Lowes sells them. Not expensive at all.

Have you checked your area?

Re: Medical masks

dancingwoman — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:41:07 GMT

@Kachina624 Hope you are recovering from your surgery. Take care...DW

Re: Medical masks

phoenixbrd — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 02:51:07 GMT

Wearing a regular mask is not considered protection against the virus. There is this option: a more specialized mask, known as an N95 respirator, can protect against the new coronavirus, also called 2019-nCoV. The respirator is thicker than a surgical mask, but it isn't recommend it for public use, at least not at this point.

Apparently, this mask is claustrophobic and a challenge to wear for any length of time.

Re: Medical masks

AKgirl2 — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:02:31 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
Supply and demand. I had some facial surgery last week with extensive bandaging. I joked that I'd just wear a mask since they're in vogue right now. The nurses gave me a plastic bag filled with them.

Maybe QVC should sell them done in cute prints?

@Kachina624 ~ I hope you're doing ok, and healing well. Take good care. 😷

Re: Medical masks

Kachina624 — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:16:06 GMT

@dancingwoman wrote:
@Kachina624 Hope you are recovering from your surgery. Take care...DW

@dancingwoman I had Basel cell carcinoma removed and I'm a real mess with lots of stitches and purple bruising. I'm in self-imposed home confinement for several weeks. Have more surgery in middle of March to fix it.

Thanks for all your well wishes.

Re: Medical masks

Annabellethecat66 — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:17:53 GMT

I’ll only buy them if I can find some in animal print...

Re: Medical masks

Kachina624 — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:27:12 GMT

@Annabellethecat66 How about with a kitty nose and mouth? Maybe in Mr. Bill colors?

Re: Medical masks

Snowpuppy — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:32:38 GMT

I'm waiting for Oprah's Favorite Things.

Re: Medical masks

rezski — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:40:52 GMT

The masks mainly protect other people from you. In the OR all are wearing masks except the patient. Once they get damp from your breath they need to be changed as the viruses go right through.The cloth ones people wear are even less effective. Some masks filter out particles you might breath in but they are specialized and you have to be trained to wear them as wellas passing a fit test to show it is being worn properly with a good seal. I used to have to use them at work.

Re: Medical masks

shoesnbags — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:45:30 GMT

@Mz iMac wrote:
@shoesnbags @madzonie

In my neck of the woods, all the major pharmacies-CVS, Walgreens, local home grown pharmacies, supermarket pharmacies, etc. have them for FREE!

I have a whole bag full of them. I only wear mine during flu season.

Also, HomeDepot & Lowes sells them. Not expensive at all.

Have you checked your area?

@Mz iMac

Please read post #8. Your bag of free masks are not the kind recommended for protection against the Coronavirus and similar viruses. That’s why they’re so available and free. I wear that type when cleaning because I’m allergic to dust. A N95 respirator is the type of mask that is needed for protection against the Coronavirus.

Re: Medical masks

Sushismom — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:45:50 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
@dancingwoman wrote:
@Kachina624 Hope you are recovering from your surgery. Take care...DW
@dancingwoman I had Basel cell carcinoma removed and I'm a real mess with lots of stitches and purple bruising. I'm in self-imposed home confinement for several weeks. Have more surgery in middle of March to fix it.

Thanks for all your well wishes.

Hope you're doing well after having the basal cell carcinoma removed. And, if I'm not available, good luck in March for your other surgery!

Re: Medical masks

lovesrecess — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 04:59:03 GMT

The CDC suggest you wear the N95 mask; they are the ones like construction workers wear. The Lowes, Home Depots, and hardware stores here are sold out of the masks within 40 miles from our area and they suggest you order online before online retailers are sold out. Surgical masks are worthless for protection from the coronavirus. This was on our local news and was from the CDC.

Re: Medical masks

CherryHugs — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 11:59:25 GMT

This is real interesting:

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2020/february/israeli-companies-develop-revolutionary-antiviral-face-masks-to-defend-against-deadly-coronavirus

Re: Medical masks

patbz — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 14:26:18 GMT

@lovesrecess : Unless you are rich (Some N95 masks are now $40 each) it's too late to find them from Ebay. The other problem is they usually aren't putting in a guaranteed delivery date and most are made in China (where they have a higher priority than selling to you).

Re: Medical masks

chrystaltree — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 14:36:07 GMT

If you are buying them for to protect against a virus, hold off on that. All surgical/medical masks are not the same thing. Some offer no protection at all against viruses. You would need a specific type of mask. Also, there are varying opinions on the effectiveness of any mask. This COVID 19 virus can live on hard surfaces. People are probably stock piling masks now, hence the price increases.