CNN (April 3) reports "President said his administration was now recommending Americans wear "non-medical cloth" face coverings, a reversal of previous guidance that suggested masks were unnecessary for people who weren't sick."
The following paragraph is a brief note of my observations (can be my inadequacy, even though I taught five semesters' American Government online and face-to-face course.)
A very different condition in press release performance between the US. and Taiwan is that from the onset of the viral outbreak, the Minister, a medical professional, Dr. Chen, of the Health and Welfare Department is the pivotal protagonist in conducting the everyday health safety and security report. He is also the sole leader of the Commanding Center in charge of the viral crisis. In the US. you see the politicians occupying on every inch of the TV screen (or the press-release conference rooms). It could be due to the different forms of governments that affect the political operating system.
More and more exploration by the medical experts, scholars and clinical professionals, the knowledge of this tricky type of CCP virus is gradually experienced, understood, and believed in the US. They can incubate in various timeframes. They can be asymptomatic. They can transmit not just by the droplets of coughs or sneezes, but also through airborne. The most intriguing nature of them is that they have been mutating into several versions. The worst part of the viruses is that when discovered, they tend to infect the patient into the stage of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, or IPF. In other words, when they are caught, it tends to be too late for the infected to be treated properly.
With the new recommendation issued by the president, today, I officially, legitimately, naturally, and safely wore my N95 to visit a local grocery store! A sidebar, in contrast with 1918, see below:
I have been writing short episodes of my observations and experiences about this CCP virus since late January, posted on my facebook. One of the topics was about the shocking difference in the notion of owning and/or wearing a piece of facial mask in the public.
Since Wisconsin got the first case on February 2 (the 12th case of the US.) my alert was tightened. I shared the experience about how unnatural, unsafe, and awkward I was as a non-Caucasian residing in the region where the facial mask was an unseen tabooed object. At that time (around the mid-March), I was wondering and shocked to see people fighting or hoarding toilet papers in major big cities, but not facial masks !! From my observation since the outbreak of the CCP virus (officially, January 24), countries along the west side of the Pacific rim, facial masks are the most essential items to associate with life and death, definitely, NOT Toilet Papers! They are the most powerful ammunition to fight against the CCP virus. The 2003 SARS, indeed, taught a few countries with a heavy lesson.
Note, during March, more information was surfacing. CCP China, in fact, held an anti-novel Virus grand scale drill around the east coast provinces in November 2019. Since January, CCP official agencies ordered their oversea government-business liaisons sweeping through counties where the essential medical materials (especially, facial masks) and other products were available. They were all sent back to CCP-China. Now they are reselling and gouging the price to the countries where they brought from. Those resold products included the US. donated items. (No wonder, there were no masks available across the US. since early February. Now amid the peak calamities of the pandemics (April,) the shortage of facial masks, PPEs and the rest of the essential protective and relevant medical materials are imposing dangerous challenges on the frontline healthcare givers and medical personnel.
My sister worries about my safety and asked her friend in Taiwan to email me a few pieces of N95.
In early February, the Taiwan government preemptively invited public and private sectors to massively manufacture the facial masks cooperatively and distributed them by a new set of orders to prevent people from panicking purchasing, hoarding and price gouging. Now with 40 added to the original 60 giant machines, Taiwan produces 10 million units of facial masks per day. The surplus masks allow Taiwan to help countries hit hard by the CCP virus.
As in the previous posts, I had a couple of trips to see a friend in the hospital and visit the local grocery stores, though the 6-foot distance is recommended, no one actually follows the rule, not to mention the maverick notion of wearing a facial mask. Since I received the facial masks in early March, I carried them in my bag. I did not have the "courage" to wear them. Details, see my March 3 post on this blogger: https://ci8395.blogspot.com/2020/03/march-31-t-2020-how-can-lesson-learned.html
I feel so much relaxed in handling my dilemma - to wear, or not wear - a facial mask when in the public. From April 3, it turned into a right thing to do recommended by the president!
So, today, I opened a new N95, wearing legitimately and effectively according to the instructions recommended by Doctors in Taiwan (from Youbute), then visiting the local grocery store. I expected some (surely, not all) customers, like me, wearing one to the store. But, not so much as a surprise to me, about 40 hustling-bustling people in the store, only two wore the facial mask.
According to the CCP virus update in Wisconsin, today the death tolls added 20 to 37 of yesterday, and the positive cases shut to 2100 cases. Our neighboring states Michigan and Illinois are becoming the new HotSpots. I am getting worried. The busy cashiers had no masks on. I looked at my cashier (a non-Caucasian, seemingly, a student) who politely greeted me. The distance was no more than a foot (not to mention 6 feet). I was thinking, how many customers he served today. I hope this is not an imaginary exaggeration or due to my personal over-sensitivity, could any one of the serving or the served people be infected, or a carrier?
I wish I had boxes, boxes of facial masks to donate, like, now the Taiwanese government's doing to aid the countries in need of them. But what else can I do? Then an urge popped up. I needed to write to the manager.
After arriving home, I sent the following message to whom it may concern:
" Dear Manager,
I am a long-term customer of your store.
I appreciate your associates' high-quality service.
Today I stopped by to purchase some food items and found
none of your service staff having a facial mask on while doing busy work.
They are the frontline soldiers running the risk with the
high probability to contract the Novel Coronavirus for serving our
residents.
Now our state has more than 2000 positive cases and 57 death tolls.
Our neighboring states, Michigan and Illinois are the new hotspots.
This type of new virus can incubate for a long time, even some people contracted the viruses and don’t show the symptoms. That’s one of the main reasons for many people who become severely ill and die after tested with positive, because the viruses being discovered too late is a major factor!
Now our state has more than 2000 positive cases and 57 death tolls.
Our neighboring states, Michigan and Illinois are the new hotspots.
This type of new virus can incubate for a long time, even some people contracted the viruses and don’t show the symptoms. That’s one of the main reasons for many people who become severely ill and die after tested with positive, because the viruses being discovered too late is a major factor!
I salute to all of you!
But I am wondering if there is any way that your company can purchase N95
masks for the working associates?
Be safe.
Sincerely, Xena Crystal "
Customer submission form
( I probably know that not because they don't want to provide the facial masks to the frontline workers, but they are just not available in the local pharmacy or relevant stores!!!)
By the way, I just read a report related to my last post regarding vice president Mike Pence visiting 3M in Minnesota for a mass-producing the facial masks. The newest information was not optimistic.
The issue is that the major product lines for many types of medical equipment of 3M located in China!!
Again, the economic comparative advantage theory of specializing the productivity and lowing the production cost, shapes-n-pushes how China dominates the whole trend of "globalization" through its massive low-pay working people: the global colossal working-bees-n-ants. Both the intended and unintended consequences of the accelerating globalization process, through the CCP viruses, reveal China's Community of Common Destiny...
Now, based on the report, 3M having legal problems with China regarding exporting the "strategic" products manufactured in China to other countries is against its law.
Be safe.
Sincerely, Xena Crystal "
( I probably know that not because they don't want to provide the facial masks to the frontline workers, but they are just not available in the local pharmacy or relevant stores!!!)
By the way, I just read a report related to my last post regarding vice president Mike Pence visiting 3M in Minnesota for a mass-producing the facial masks. The newest information was not optimistic.
The issue is that the major product lines for many types of medical equipment of 3M located in China!!
Again, the economic comparative advantage theory of specializing the productivity and lowing the production cost, shapes-n-pushes how China dominates the whole trend of "globalization" through its massive low-pay working people: the global colossal working-bees-n-ants. Both the intended and unintended consequences of the accelerating globalization process, through the CCP viruses, reveal China's Community of Common Destiny...
Now, based on the report, 3M having legal problems with China regarding exporting the "strategic" products manufactured in China to other countries is against its law.
The following post was my stance toward the facial mask issue regarding the Surgeon General's March 2 twit:
I expressed my point of view on facebook regarding the US Surgeon General Dr. Adams' remarks on the facial mask issues, reported on March 1:
"Americans worried about the coronavirus outbreak shouldn’t buy face masks to protect themselves against it because the masks are ineffective for those without symptoms -- and the purchases deplete the supplies available for medical professionals... Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS..."
Dr. Adams wrote on Twitter, addressing fears over the spread of the virus in the U.S., "They are NOT effective in preventing the general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”https://www.foxnews.com/health/americans-worried-about-coronavirus-dont-need-to-buy-face-masks-us-surgeon-general-says
The following post was my response to the above remarks posted on facebook on March 2:
