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Amazon begins temperature checks and will provide surgical masks at warehouses

(www.reuters.com)
265 points ajaviaad | 2 comments | 02 Apr 20 14:47 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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chvid ◴[02 Apr 20 15:42 UTC] No.22760237[source]▶
I thought here in the west that it was well-established that temperature checks and mask do not work against the corona?!
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1. marcinzm ◴[02 Apr 20 16:01 UTC] No.22760433[source]▶
The perfect is the enemy of the good. These measures aren't about stopping the spread but slowing it down.

An N95 mask (if you can get one) will keep you from getting infected and a surgical mask will keep others from getting infected by you. Temperature checks won't catch everyone but will catch some percentage of sick people.

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2. erik ◴[02 Apr 20 16:39 UTC] No.22760835[source]▶
N95 masks need to go to hospitals first. They don't really make sense for the general public to be wearing. They are difficult to fit properly, and not comfortable for continuous wear. They are believed to be primarily needed when dealing with patients on oxygen / ventilators / etc.

Surgical masks do make sense for the general public. They are much easier to wear, and they still offer a good amount of filtration for the wearer. Plus they have the benefit you mentioned of preventing the wearer from infecting others.

Where surgical masks aren't available, cloth masks still appear to offer some benefit. And there are designs that include a pocket for paper filters.