Thick head, small hands (tiny brain)

I have the perfect mask for the circumstances

Do we actually know at what temperature the COVID-19 virus is 'killed off' or rendered inactive?

I don't really know, but given what I know of thermal decontamination, 60 C° feels suspiciously low.

Yeah. That's what I'm wondering. In my OP I was just repeating what my friend had told me.

Maybe different viruses 'die off' at different temperatures.

Svartalf wrote:I don't really know, but given what I know of thermal decontamination, 60 C° feels suspiciously low.

It may be enough over a prolonged period, this group of viruses are quite cold resistant but high dry temperatures seem to damage them pretty quickly. Unfortunately not the sorts of temperatures people would generally live in, data on the SARs coronavirus here indicate that

Heat at 56°C kills the SARS coronavirus at around 10000 units per 15 min (quick reduction).

https://www.who.int/csr/sars/survival_2003_05_04/en/
I would expect this almost identical virus to also not enjoy heat. That said I do not advise trying to cook n95s but it does suggest that heat available for general cleaning even without a detergent or bleach agent will clean things up pretty well and with a virus damaging additive even faster. For for your washable cloth masks a hot wash and a run through the clothes drier and you could be pretty confident they are clean.

Svartalf wrote:I have the perfect mask for the circumstances

Man, so want. Heh, it'd be a good look at the local supermarket

I know it's the wrong type of mask, but whenever I see one of those I think "Kill List" ending.

*shudder*

I'd go with one of these;

So despite my concerns that masks worn generally would be a distraction I do accept I am living in an outbreak zone with ongoing community acquired infections and that the city government has insisted people wear non medical masks when out and about and particularly when in confined spaces. I don't necessarily disagree with this as a protect others method but I did note when I ventured out today many medical masks still being used and paid particular attention to people unused to mask wearing frequently touching and adjusting their masks/bandannas etc. which is exactly the wrong thing to do but hopefully most will get used to this soon. I made a cloth mask, unsure it very protective of me but definitely would reduce my expulsion of infected droplets should I be sick. I specifically made it with an outer layer of colorful cotton to firstly remind me of which is the outside side and to obviously display that this wasn't a reserved medical mask. I lack a sewing machine, so I held the 3 layers and the twist tie nose clip in place with a border of cloth type insulating tape (designed for the tip of an electric foil) this works really well but this version not really washable so will just have to dry it. I have to walk to work so I might need to make a few or find a friend with a sewing machine, not so common in Manhattan to have a sewing machine in a shoe box apartment.

Alan C wrote:I'd go with one of these;

kull warrior 1.jpeg

looks good, what is it from? to me, Kull is a character created by Robert E Howard, but this definitely looks wrong to be that.

As for me, I don't have the material or equipment to make my own, so I might wear a mask if some are issued to me, but not otherwise.

For those of who have to use a car, (I have osteoarferitis), the news that this virus can 'hang around' in the air for more than just a couple of metres, is disturbing. I am therefore considering setting the car ventilation to internal 'recycle'. Or perhaps I'm being over cautious...
Or panicking (maybe) :

Svartalf wrote:

Alan C wrote:I'd go with one of these;

kull warrior 1.jpeg

looks good, what is it from? to me, Kull is a character created by Robert E Howard, but this definitely looks wrong to be that.

As for me, I don't have the material or equipment to make my own, so I might wear a mask if some are issued to me, but not otherwise.

It's from the Stargate SG-1 TV series. A fictional super-soldier, the armour absorbed energy too so no tasering.

Alan B wrote:For those of who have to use a car, (I have osteoarferitis), the news that this virus can 'hang around' in the air for more than just a couple of metres, is disturbing. I am therefore considering setting the car ventilation to internal 'recycle'. Or perhaps I'm being over cautious...
Or panicking (maybe) :

I think this unnecessary, a difficult path for a droplet suspended in the air to navigate through all those obstacles of a car ventilation system even without a HEPA filter in place, and if you have a passenger this would increase the risk. If the particles on droplets were really fogging the air for prolonged periods then we would have seen a much higher infection rate more in line with really infectious diseases like measles. It still seems close proximity is required thankfully. It much more like people vaping you see the plume of vapour blossom but then it seems to disappear, what is happening is it falls to the ground quickly, unlike smoke which hangs, drifts and dissipates.In this case a massive sneeze would be the plume of vape like particles, while speaking etc would generate barely noticeable 'puffs' which don't go as far and fall quickly.

Alan B wrote:For those of who have to use a car, (I have osteoarferitis), the news that this virus can 'hang around' in the air for more than just a couple of metres, is disturbing. I am therefore considering setting the car ventilation to internal 'recycle'. Or perhaps I'm being over cautious...
Or panicking (maybe) :

Could have sworn that said osteofartitis. Sounded interesting.

Mrs. Lak's crocheted face mask. You put a filter in the pouchy bit (she cuts them from HEPA air conditioner filters). It's cotton so it's washable. She's made 3 so far and is working on a 4th. Keeps her off the streets.

Kirby vacuum bags would work as well

Home made masks. There has been a lot of on-line stuff and in the media about making them from such things as knickers, T-shirts, sheets, etc. - and jolly inventive some of them are too. There has been no (afaik) of a critical examination of whether this stuff actualy is effective against a virus as small as COVID-19. (I suppose it depends on the material used and how many layers).
To date I have not seen any of these 'home-made' masks being used by medical staff where there is a shortage of genuine masks.
I suspect that as far as inhaling the virus they will be of little use - just to provide a false sense of security. But they may reduce the path/distance of droplets containg the virus if an infected person using such a mask coughs or sneezes.

Alan B wrote:Home made masks. There has been a lot of on-line stuff and in the media about making them from such things as knickers, T-shirts, sheets, etc. - and jolly inventive some of them are too. There has been no (afaik) of a critical examination of whether this stuff actualy is effective against a virus as small as COVID-19. (I suppose it depends on the material used and how many layers).
To date I have not seen any of these 'home-made' masks being used by medical staff where there is a shortage of genuine masks.
I suspect that as far as inhaling the virus they will be of little use - just to provide a false sense of security. But they may reduce the path/distance of droplets containg the virus if an infected person using such a mask coughs or sneezes.

Yeah the only benefit is deflecting projectile-spluttering by an infected person.

The main benefit of any mask other than the special respirator type is that the protect others from the wearer, the simple 3 layer cotton homemade one may give some protection to the wearer by catching splatter for example, assuming you quickly remove the mask it buys you some time. Even the famous N95 doesn't offer good protection if not fitted correctly or worn poorly. Distancing and hand hygiene remain the key protectors and everyone wearing mouth.nose covering when close contact cannot be avoided is a last step. Gloves are possibly the most useless and most dangerous (to the wearer) protective equipment.