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Millions of people in the United States started purchasing face masks in 2020, and companies, unsurprisingly, have been rushing to take advantage of soaring demand for a new product. At CES 2021, the mask gadget was on full display. Razer’s light up concept mask and transparent voice amplifier led the pack. AirPop has promoted its Active + Smart Mask, which monitors users’ breathing rates and alerts them through a smartphone app when the mask filter needs to be changed. Binatone’s MaskFone has built-in headphones and a microphone for phone calls.
Turning masks into a status symbol is nothing new, nor is capitalizing on disaster to make money. Before the pandemic, people wore masks to protect themselves from air pollution, and they are fashion items in China and India. Also before the pandemic, companies making masks advertised for this purpose were beginning to enter the US market. Last year at CES, Ao Air announced a $ 350 air pollution filtering gadget.
Technical masks to protect against COVID-19 aren’t necessarily bad things. Health officials are doubling down on the message to cover your nose and mouth as cases pour in across the country, and a close review of scientific evidence released this month has confirmed, once again, that the masks work. . Razer said The edge he plans to work with medical experts if he ever decides to produce and sell his mask. His conceptual mask has the dangerous and warned exhalation valve, but Razer says the mask would have a filter to block any virus the wearer expires.
But a gimmicky arms race won’t necessarily make masks more effective. We need better masks for everyone, not just stylish products for those who can afford them. In the United States, almost a year after the start of the pandemic, most people still wear sheet masks, which is better than nothing, but not the best way to block the virus. Cloth masks were supposed to be a stopgap solution until authorities could step up production of medical-grade masks, but these never materialized. Meanwhile, Taiwan is distributing high-quality masks to citizens, and Germany is demanding N95 equivalent masks in stores.
Without federal action on masks, people are on their own to find and buy them. There are no good criteria for sheet masks, making it difficult to determine which one offers the best protection. There are counterfeit medical grade masks all over the country. It’s a crowded and confusing area, and gadgets scramble for space alongside bracelet masks and rhinestones.
“We regularly get PR offers for great new solutions as well as snake oil remedies, and sometimes we have a hard time telling them apart – how is an ordinary person supposed to assess competing claims? Zeynep Tufekci and Jeremy Howard wrote in Atlantic.
To fight the pandemic, the United States needs effective masks for distribution as a public health service. Instead, masks of all kinds are seen and marketed as commercial products. Companies that sell light up masks don’t create this problem, and if the flash helps someone put one on, that’s a win. But these flashy contributions only underscore how far we still have to go before we have simple and effective protection for everyone.
Here’s what’s happening this week.
Research
The future of the coronavirus? Annoying childhood infection
Once the pandemic is over, COVID-19 could gradually look more like a childhood cold than a fatal illness, new research suggests. With vaccines, this transformation could happen quickly. (Apoorva Mandavilli, The New York Times)
No ICU beds? Expect to double the number of Covid-19 deaths.
The risk of death from COVID-19 is not static. This changes depending on the quality of care physicians are able to provide. When intensive care units are full, people are more likely to die from the disease. (Julia Belluz, Vox)
Covid-19 deaths are highest they have ever been – and most infectious variants could make matters worse
The new strain of coronavirus that is gaining a foothold in the United States is not more deadly, but it is more contagious. It’s a scary scenario anyway: Faster spreading infections mean even more deaths. (Andrew Joseph, New statistics)
Development
Once you and your friends are vaccinated, can you stop social distancing?
Getting the shot isn’t a free pass to act like the pandemic is over, but as people around you start getting the shot, life will return to normal. The transition will be in stages until the pandemic takes hold around the world. (Sigal Samuel, Vox)
J & J’s one-shot Covid vaccine is safe and generates promising immune response in early trial
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is next in the pipeline, and early data shows it can generate an immune response in a single dose. The company is expected to release data on its effectiveness later this month. (Berkeley Lovelace Jr., CNBC)
Perspectives
I’m angry that after spending months carefully isolating myself, one chaotic day has probably made me sick. I am sorry that many of the leaders of our country did not want to face the annoyance of a mask for a few hours. I am sorry that the attack on Capitol Hill and my subsequent illness had the same cause: the inability of my fellow Republicans to accept the facts.
– Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) writes in The Washington Post after testing positive for COVID-19 following the Capitol riots.
More than numbers
To the over 93,604,952 people around the world who have tested positive, may your journey to recovery be smooth.
To the families and friends of the 2,003,885 people around the world – 390,809 of them in the United States – your loved ones are not forgotten.
Stay safe, everyone.
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