When Do We Change Masks? – Part 3, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.)

When the mask (and goggles?) is done in the “toaster,” then bag it in a fresh carry bag along with the goggles for your next adventure!

(And why this challenging routine? It’s because not only do sneeze and cough droplets carry COVID-19 but even breathing produces a mist of viruses. And those particles are so small they can stay suspended in the air for up to 3 hours. All of these droplets and particles settle out on surfaces and the floor.

And this virus is so incredibly contagious that persons who use the potty and wash up afterwards, even though they have miniscule amounts of stool on their hands, are still able to spread the virus on many if not most of the surfaces they touch. Asymptomatic transmission and a long incubation period, plus a certain percentage of “recovered” patients who still spread viruses afterwards – all these are a recipe for dramatically spreading this disease. And that is why we have to take these extraordinarily cautious steps to avoid this virus.)

WHAT ABOUT GLOVES?

I recognize that this is not a “perfect strategy.” You’d need to wear more protective gear to be “sure” you couldn’t be exposed to COVID-19. We’re working the balance between cost and convenience and the actual risk. If we try to make your protection ironclad it will be too difficult to do day-in-and-day out, and people won’t do it for long. If we suggest too many equipment items then few people can actually afford it all. You are going to have to find your own balance. You are going to have to decide how much risk you actually want to take.

So, regarding gloves. I’ve only very rarely seen anyone recommending gloves. The focus has always been on mask and goggles and hand hygiene. So I’m focusing on the main issues – the measures that will make the MOST difference.

Hands are essentially virus-proof and nitrile gloves are a bit tricky to take off properly. A person could take them off incorrectly and assume that their hands are clean when they’re NOT.

Plus, gloves are just one more thing people would have to buy. And we’re already asking them to buy $80 boxes of masks.

But if you want to wear gloves and you feel unsafe without having them on in public, by all means get some nitrile gloves (in your size) and wear them!

NOT A RABBIT TRAIL

Please accept my apologies for this article. There are so many useful things, helpful things, to know about COVID-19, and many things to discuss about how to cope with the insanity now gripping the nation. And on my computer this article is already 12 pages long – FAR too long!!

I know you’re not going to like me saying this, dear Prepper brother or sister, but there are other issues besides COVID-19 festering away in the background. Issues that could make a pandemic seem like a small problem. Secondary and tertiary effects could be bad (like shortages of medication). States are beginning to declare emergencies, giving them new powers and lots of money. A “soft martial law” could be being rolled out right under our noses. And WalMart has no TP or Lysol in Spokane today! 🙂

The economy is unstable (stock markets, low interest rates, national debt, etc.) and physical money could transmit this virus. You saw what the Chinese did with huge carts of paper money, right? They sprayed their money with disinfectant or simply took it out of circulation. How’s that for a motive to move us to a contact-less all-electronic economy? We don’t have time to go into why that’s such a bad thing now, but it is…

Times of global instability are ripe for unscrupulous persons hungry for power and control. Remember “Never let a good crisis go to waste”? Expect Trump to be blamed for everything and the opposition rhetoric and hatred to continue to escalate.

Keep your eyes open, watch the national and international news, especially concerning Israel and what religious Jews are saying about the coming of their Messiah. Obviously that’s not NOT Jesus, this person will be the Antichrist. What? Did you think he was going to be some character like Emperor Palpatine?

No, the Jews and the world will give allegiance to him because he will seem to be so incredibly wise and good. (Did you know that there are prominent orthodox Jewish rabbis who are claiming that they already know a candidate who meets all the Talmudic requirements? And they’re already talking with him?)

Get your COVID strategy in place, have a plan. But keep your eyes open for what else is going on. In my opinion, a whole list of critical events are already converging, perhaps later this year. It doesn’t mean it’s the End of the World (that comes later). It doesn’t mean the Rapture is going to happen soon. It means that multiple trends are going to happen that God-fearing, law-abiding, patriotic Americans are going to be forced to respond to.

THIS IS TEAM SURVIVAL

What other ideas (or corrections) come to mind for coping with this virus? Please share them in the Comments section. No one person is going to know everything there is to know. And no one person is going to have all the bright ideas that we’re going to need to get through this.

And never forget:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.”
– Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust God. Be prepared. We can do both!

– ShepherdFarmerGeek

Footnotes:

(1) “UVGI [UltraViolet Germicidal Irradiation] exposure had a more pronounced effect on the strengths of the respirator materials. At the higher UVGI doses [very high], the strength of the layers of respirator material was substantially reduced (in some cases, by >90%). The changes in the strengths of the respirator materials varied considerably among the different models of respirators. UVGI had less of an effect on the respirator straps; a dose of 2360 J/cm2 reduced the breaking strength of the straps by 20–51%. Our results suggest that UVGI could be used to effectively disinfect disposable respirators for reuse, but the maximum number of disinfection cycles will be limited by the respirator model and the UVGI dose required to inactivate the pathogen.” [emphasis mine]

“…for influenza virus, dozens of UVGI disinfection cycles could be performed on respirators without the UVGI affecting their performance.”

(2) “A working group formed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs recently proposed desirable characteristics for a disposable N95 respirator designed specifically for healthcare workers.(19) One of their recommendations was that such a respirator be capable of being disinfected 50 times with each disinfection cycle taking less than 60 sec.”

The sanitizing tote that Amazon was selling (and presumably will sell in the future when stock levels are restored) will run for up to 30 minutes automatically (5 / 15 / 30). That exposure time appears to be excessive.

“In our experiments, UVGI had a small effect on filtration performance and essentially no effect on flow resistance at doses up to 950 J/cm2, while the structural integrity of the respirators showed a noticeable decrease at lower doses. The strength of the respirator straps was less affected by UVGI than the strength of the body material. Our results suggest that UVGI could be used to disinfect respirators, although the maximum number of disinfection cycles will be limited by the respirator model and the UVGI dose required to inactivate the pathogen.” [emphasis mine]

“…a UV lamp held within 1 inch above a petri dish grown with E. coli, it will only take 1-2 min to show a complete sterilization. For sterilizing surgical instruments in a medium UV box, it might take 5-10 min. For sterilizing an 8-foot biosafety cabinet in a lab, a common recommendation is 30 min.”