FACE SHIELDS: The Best Solution for Opening-up Schools

From Worldometer,  COVID-19 new deaths:

           DAY USA   WORLD   Brazil   India   South Africa

June      9     1093    4732         1185      246         82

           10       982    5163         1300      388         48
           11       904    4951         1261      394         74
           12       791    4603           843      389         70
           13       702    4229           890      309         69
           14       331    3263           598      321         57
           15       425    3415           729      395         88
           16       849    6592         1338        ?           57
           17       809    5264         1209      341         49
           18       747    5123         1204      342         63
           19       719    5066         1221      366         94
           20       573    4428           968      307         46
           21       267    3338           601      426         53
           22       363    3880           748      312         61
           23       863    5465         1364      468        111
           24       808    6071         1103      424        103
           25       649    5179         1180      401          87
           26       663    4893         1055      381         48
           27       512    4547           994      414         73
           28       285    3463           555      384         43
           29       346    3415           727      417         73
           30       764    5072         1271      506       128
July       1       676    4857        1057      438         92
             2       687    5155         1277      377         95
             3       616    5170         1264      444       108
             4       254    4494         1111       610         74
             5       251    3572          535       421       173
             6       378    3573          656       474       111
             7       993    5504        1312       479       192
             8       890    5507        1187       491       100
             9       960    5411        1199       479       118
           10       849    5416        1270       521       140
           11       731    4995          968       543       111
           12       380    4118          659       500       108
           13       465    3729          770       540         93
           14       935    5414        1341       586       174

Summary: Just when you thought it was getting better, the virus struck again.  New deaths yesterday:

• The USA jumped back to where it was a month ago.
• The World cruised up to the bad old days.
• Brazil, India and South Africa had their worst day ever.  Well, actually, Brazil had a worse one on June 23 with 1364 new deaths.

My posting on 20 April 2020  predicted that Robert Redfield, director of the CDC would be the next to be fired by President Donald Trump.  Well, the White House is trying something else, he is firing the CDC.   From the New York Times in their briefing this morning:

• The administration has ordered hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send all virus data directly to Washington. The move breaks with longstanding tradition and alarms health experts who fear the data will be politicized or withheld from the public.

The Administration has already urged states to ignore the CDC guidelines when opening up schools.

Just to reinforce that we are doing poorly in controlling COVID-19, also from that NYT briefing:

Some history, for on 9 March 2020, President Donald Trump tweeted:

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump

So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu.  It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year.  Nothing is shut down, life and the economy go on.  At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths.  Think about that!

4:47AM  March 9, 2020

However, later in the month, on 31 March 2020, the White House predicted 100,000 to 240,000 U.S. deaths from COVID-19 over the next few months.  The low number came from Dr. Anthony Fauci, while the higher one from Dr. Deborah Birx.  Since then, they have both been effectively banned from making any speculations, although recently Fauci has gone public with statements that embarrass the White House, where Trump's latest position was that they have a "good relationship," if you believe the President.

Today, the University of Washington (Director Christopher Murray to the left) projection used by everyone shows 240,000 deaths on November 1, two days before election day.  However, if 95% of us wore masks when leaving home, there should be 45,000 fewer deaths.  Then they said 60,000 lives saved if everyone wore masks.

So let me start with a summary about masks:

• Want to see evidence of how wearing a mask works?  Click on THIS.
• Here is another one from PBS, but there is a small commercial first.

• On June 26 if was reported that 90% of Americans actually do wear face masks.  In mid-April it was only 69%.
• In South Korea, the government has advised citizens to carry two types of masks — a surgical mask for normal use, and a heavy-duty mask for crowded situations.

• 15 Craigside recommends two washable masks, one for in-building use and a second for external wear.  Both must be daily washed.  They will have a sale on Friday.  Only $3 to $5 each.  You know, I've been using those 10 cent masks I bought in Japan and don't have any washable one.  I'd better not miss that sale.

But are masks sufficient?  I earlier reported that I bought a face shield because this coronavirus can enter through your eyes.  There are few studies showing this to be a real problem.  There are signs of concern.

There’s the same chance of infection with SARS-CoV-2, says Elia Duh (below, of Johns Hopkins). “If there are droplets that an infected individual is producing by coughing or sneezing or even speaking, then the front of the eyes are directly exposed, just like the nasal passages are exposed. In addition, people rub and touch their eyes a lot. So there’s certainly already the vulnerability.”

“The virus has been detected in tears and conjunctival swab specimens from individuals with COVID-19,” Duh says. “If someone rubs their eyes and then touches someone else or touches a surface, that kind of transmission mechanism could occur.”

The CDC hasn’t issued such advice. In an email, the agency says it “does not have specific recommendations for the public regarding eye protection. However, in healthcare settings, CDC does recommend eye protection for healthcare workers to prevent transmission via droplets.”

Then there are those Trump followers who make it a political statement by not wearing masks in public.  This might slightly change as The Donald actually began to wear a black mask.

Whoops, meant to use this one:

Plus, here is one with a face shield:

Maybe a face shield might be more comfortable than a mask, as in Japan schools:

Note that you don't need to wear both at the same time, as is the protocol for emergency frontline health workers.

First, wearing a mask all day is a royal pain.  Can young children and their adult teacher do this all day?  It is thus now appearing that face shields might be the best solution for opening up schools.  There are several reasons for this.

• They are SAFER than masks.
• Plus, more comfortable.
• When produced in quantity, they should each cost only a few dollars.
• They also last a very long time.

I would suggest that President Trump invoke the National Defense Act to provide two face shields for every American to be readied when school opens.  Until that happens, you can go to Amazon.com.  Here is a You Tube way to make one for 16 cents.

I suspect there is nothing to this, but a month ago, the local Star Advertiser reported on a dry fog disinfecting system to eliminate viruses, mold and bacteria.  Hawaii Unified disinfected a church on the Big Island.  So the Department of Public Safety entered into a memorandum of understanding to use this dry fog concept for Hawaii's eight prisons.  It's a two-hour process.  Hawaii Unified holds the proprietary rights, which has been approved by the EPA and FDA.  So, who knows, someday you might read more about this method.

Here are reasons to believe Donald Trump about the dangers of home schooling:

If you're still in some kind of quarantine, miss Las Vegas and have an hour and a half to spare, here is a splashy program about Cirque Du Soleil.  As you know, they recently filed for bankruptcy.

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