These are not N95 masks. They are particle masks, however....

Honeywell (click here) RWS-54001 Dust & Nuisance Particulate Mask 50 Count

$28.09

They fit snuggly against the nose and can provide a good seal to prevent inhalation of DUST.

I bought a few of them today and I think if they are used with N95 filters BETWEEN two of them it will provide an excellent method of protection. The N95 filters can be purchased independently. The CONTRAMPTION will have to to be assembled so that it acts as one unit. I believe the N95 filter will provide a mask that can be used over a longer period of time than the usual disposable ones. 

It could work.

Sandwich a N95 filter between two particle masks and be sure the entire unit fits well enough to provide a secure fit.

The federal government has to IMMEDIATELY authorize the sale of these ventilators to hospitals MOST IN NEED.

This is an outrage. These companies are engaged in PRICE GOUGING. I don't think so.

FEMA SHOULD BE PURCHASING THESE VENTILATORS AND WAREHOUSE THEM AFTER THIS IS OVER ONCE THEY HAVE BEEN PROPERLY CLEANED.

March 18, 2020
By Christopher Rowland

Hospitals (click here) are holding back from ordering more medical ventilators because of the high cost for what may be only a short-term spike in demand from the coronavirus epidemic, supply chain experts and health researchers say, intensifying an anticipated shortage of lifesaving equipment for patients who become critically ill.

The lack of ventilators — and growing calls for a more aggressive government role to fill the gap — was a subject of tense exchanges this week between President Trump and state officials. The issue also revealed a disconnect between different parts of the health-care industry, with the main hospital association disputing the accounts about the adequacy of supply of the lifesaving equipment.

Mechanical ventilators, which help patients breathe or breathe for them, are considered critical to the nation’s effort to contain the worst effects of the pandemic and avoid a crisis like the one Italy is facing. Depending on how bad the coronavirus pandemic gets in the United States, individual cities could come up thousands of ventilators short as patients flood hospitals, researchers say....

Where is the federal help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoever put both of these ships in drydock at the same time needs to be fired!

March 18, 2020
By Nick Blenkey

The U.S. Navy (click here) is preparing to deploy its two hospital ships — USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy —in response to the coronavirus outbreak. However, in a press briefing at the Pentagon yesterday, Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper indicated that they would not be used to treat coronavirus patients directly, but to alleviate the pressure on shoreside facilities.

Here’s what the Secretary said:

“With regard to the hospital ships, there are two, as you know. The — the Comfort is on the East Coast; the Mercy, on West Coast in Norfolk and — and San Diego, respectively. The Comfort is undergoing maintenance and the Mercy is — is — is at port. We’ve already given orders to the Navy a few days ago to lean forward, in terms of getting them ready to deploy. They provide capabilities, but much like what DOD does provide, our capabilities are focused on trauma. And so whether it’s our field hospitals, whether it’s our — our — our hospital ships, they are focused on trauma. They don’t have necessarily the — the space, the segregated spaces you need to deal with infectious diseases. And so one of the ways by which you could use either field hospitals, the — the hospital ships or things in between is to take the pressure off of civilian hospitals when it comes to trauma cases, is to open up civilian hospital rooms for infectious diseases....

Excuse me? Navy Doctors dont' understand how to use available space for isolation. 

THIS IS IDIOTIC. The trauma cases could be carrying the coronavirus. The hospital ships AND STAFF better bone up very quickly on isolation and the care of ventilator patients outside the idea of trauma.

NOW!

These are Americans and they are in crisis!!!!!

It appears Washington State is containing the spread with most cases in King County.

March 20, 2020

Life is different in the Puget Sound region (click here) as most people — by choice or by order — practice “social distancing” to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the new type of coronavirus that causes a disease called COVID-19. Public gatherings are restricted, and places of entertainment and recreation are closed statewide.

I thought this was really interesting.
SARS-CoV-2 (The virus)
COVID-10 (The illness)

This is the virus and illness. If one can reflect on the HIV/AIDS virus and illness this is the same thing. HIV is human immunodeficiency virus. AIDS is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The people of Washington State like to look at statistics in the reflection of the virus (the contagion) and the illness.

Although many patients with symptoms have struggled to access testing, Washington is gaining the capacity to test more people for the virus, and more COVID-19 diagnoses are made each day. The state Department of Health announced 136 newly confirmed cases Friday, bringing the state total to 1,512 cases, including 81 deaths. The bulk of cases remain in King County, which has seen 793 people fall ill and 67 of them die, according to the county’s public health department.

Throughout today, on this page, we’ll be posting Seattle Times journalists’ updates on the outbreak and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world. Updates from Thursday can be found here, and all our coronavirus coverage can be found here....

Recognizing Ignaz Semmelweis and Handwashing (click here for print article - thank you)

Knock it off with the one $1200 check. That is ridiculous.

The American people don't need Christmas, they need help.

The American people now filing for unemployment are running to very oppressive laws, like not being able to collect unemployment if one has not worked for the SAME EMPLOYER for a year or worked for a year. This is a GOVERNMENT ENFORCED LAY OFF.

The States need to remove barriers to unemployment benefits. IF ANYONE IS DENIED UNEMPLOYMENT APPEAL IT!

Cuomo: (click here) New York needs 110,000 hospital beds for coronavirus patients in 45 days and we only have 53,000

The current report by Mayor DeBassio shows the cases in NYC alone is using up over 10 percent of AVAILABLE beds in the State of New York.

The federal bill that has just passed and signed by the president is a great bill. It needs to be fully funded and no funds from that bill should be touched.

The States need federal help to meet the demand by its citizens. NOT COMPANIES, the states.

The American people need a weekly income, INCLUDING TIP EARNERS. The tip earners need to receive the same unemployment amount that others are receiving. That means tip earners receive unemployment without prejudice to the fact the majority of their pay comes from cash receipts.

Real-life example: There is a man that works the morning shift at "Cracker Barrel." He has four children and a wife. The only income he brings to the family is from that job at Cracker Barrel. He is the sole support of that family. He owns a house. Needless to say, his income from the tips paid to him by his customers is considerable. Just because the government has a national emergency that keeps him and the rest of his family at home with the understanding there are no more tips because the restaurant is pick up or delivery only.

That man should be receiving unemployment to the full extent of his income.

So, the needs of Americans are a weekly income they can count on from their state unemployment. The weeks of unemployment they receive those benefits have to be extended to at least three months with an understanding they might have to be extended another three months, with a total of six months.

Any person diagnosed with COVID-19 immediately receives Medicaid as does his or her family to test them and catch the virus early. Every health insurance in the country is to be required to cover any member from diagnosis through the return of good health.

Married couples are not the only people that need to be tested if one is found to be positive. There are many people, especially young people, that have roommates, etc. The living arrangement of all the people involved is more important than a certificate of marriage.

Companies are open and people are working where there is a demand. Warehouses and trucking companies are still working in many instances. There are industries such as the car industry that are experiencing a slow down. 

The focus of the help being legislated by the USA Congress must be to address the well being and needs of the American people. 

Goldman Sachs gives CEO David Solomon massive pay raise as Wall Streets demands to bail out. THERE WILL BE NO BAILOUTS! If financial markets are ailing, it is their own fault. It is called mismanagement.

The government is responsible for the people and not CEO PAY HIKES. Just because financial companies are finding their bottom line disappear doesn't mean any of the people working for that firm haven't bailed on the very company they want to have bailed out by the American people. NO! 

A clear example of "those in the know" and the way they bailed on companies to protect their wealth is Senator Richard Burr. Other US Senators were protected by their BLIND TRUST MANAGERS. THAT MEANS WALL STREET KNEW FULL WELL HOW TO PROTECT ITSELF. 

March 19, 2020

The Bellingham Herald (click here) believes in journalism that illuminates critical problems facing the public – the waste of public resources, government and corporate fraud, abuse of power, corruption, and injustice in all its forms. We have a commitment to telling stories that make a difference. We conduct journalism without fear or favor.

In this time of crisis, we want to hear from you, especially if you’re a health care worker, government employee, nursing home resident or hospital patient. You can reach us in a variety of ways, including anonymously....

First it was South Dakota and now it is Iowa. THIS IS NOT OKAY. There should be NO DISCRIMINATION as to who is tested if they are presenting with illness. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!

"Sick Iowans are denied coronavirus screening, they fear narrow testing criteria may endanger public health"

March 19, 2020
By Jason Clayworth and Barbara Rodriguez

Dennis Smith’s 66-year-old wife (click here) — released recently from nursing care, overweight and suffering from a lung infection — was told Tuesday that she didn’t need a coronavirus test.

Stacey Snyder’s son — a 23-year-old public school teacher in Mount Pleasant who was hospitalized last week for pneumonia — was also denied a test.

And Dr. Daryl Granner’s neighbor — who had coffee with an Iowa City traveler to Egypt who was shortly thereafter diagnosed with COVID-19 — has gone untested despite requesting it for more than a week.

They are among the Iowans frustrated with testing criteria they fear may be jeopardizing human life in the midst of a pandemic. Meanwhile, the state's public health department is releasing less information about test results than officials in some other states....

There are not enough tests. The ones that exist are not being used equitably. And if this continues Americans will be dying for absolute neglect of the government.
continued...