Great article by @zeynep and @jeremyphoward. To answer the question they get asked what and "where to buy proper masks," below is a thread. I have no financial interest in these recommendations. My family uses this near N95 solution that costs 17-60 cents/day.

I'll tell you what to do and then I'll explain why and provide the evidence.

You need a good quality surgical mask plus a mask fitter like the one made by @FixTheMask.

A disposable face mask made out of meltblown polypropylene layer that passes the candle test is likely good.
Those candle grade ones appear to cost 17 cents each on Amazon. Personally I prefer to buy ASTM Level 2 or 3 certified masks. Those run 40 to 60 cents. I prefer the Ambrust, which @FixTheMask found in their testing to offer the best filtration and

https://t.co/yFQHwB2hYw
decent breathability. My essential worker son wears this combo every day, all day. Testing of some masks here.
https://t.co/vRPAD0mCRU
Now on the mask brace or mask fitter (same thing). IMHO, the @FixTheMask one is a no-brainer to buy. It's the best one and right now there are only two you can buy. Here's a 3-minute video of why you should do this and why it works.
https://t.co/b5oWq16XQP
The mask brace is reusable and costs about $15. https://t.co/Q2ttrklaeu and folks at the University of Wisconsin show how you can make a DIY version. https://t.co/jFPoE88XQ1
But if I were you, just buy a @FixTheMask brace or a premade Badger Seal. I've not tried the latter, but both work well to protect you. The FixTheMask one looks better to me. The premade versions are so cheap why bother making one?
Let me also add that the Zubrex tested well by FixTheMask and costs 26 cents each. So if you're on a tight budget, that seems like the best value with quality assurance.
Now the evidence. @zeynep and @jeremyphoward linked to an U of Iowa paper. But another impressive one came out last week. “Strategies to minimize SARSCoV2 transmission -- combined impacts of ventilation and mask effective filtration efficiency.”
https://t.co/rGHeBPOOiq
Their findings are astonishing. They tested, using manikins, a room of socially distanced students and a teacher in a typical classroom. In one test, all occupants used typical cloth masks.
Then they did another test. They placed a mask fitter/brace plus a surgical mask on all the occupants. The combination of the fitter plus surgical mask reduced the transmission risk of infection by a factor of over 100 compared to typical cloth masks!
Here is the key take away: Conditional indoor infection probabilities as low as <0.0001 (0.01%) per hour might be reached with the use of surgical masks and mask fitters alone. No other swiss cheese interventions. Alone!! Obviously ventilation helps too.
From p. 67 of the preprint: With the use of a mask fitter, one can achieve an effective filtration efficiency approaching the material filtration efficiency for a mask.
Preprint's p. 66: Inexpensive disposable masks used with a mask fitter can achieve approximately 95% effective filtration efficiency in some cases.
From p. 65:

3. Leakage rates around masks are typically in the range of 20-80% when fit reasonably well to the user’s face, resulting in effective filtration efficiencies that are much lower than the material filtration efficiency.
4. With the use of a mask fitter, one can achieve an effective filtration efficiency approaching the material filtration efficiency for a mask. Inexpensive disposable masks used with a mask fitter can achieve approximately 95% effective filtration efficiency in some cases.
The beauty of this solution is we have it NOW. It can scale NOW. Surgical masks are easy to make at scale compared to N95s, which require specialized equipment.
If you don't want to read the whole paper, this thread has more. https://t.co/RvsuackOvB
Unfortunately, all the engineers who wrote the paper are not on Twitter, so none of the aerosol scientists IAQ experts on Twitter have tweeted it out yet. @linseymarr
@ShellyMBoulder
@jljcolorado
@Poppendieck
@ProfCharlesHaas
@kprather88
@PrasadKasibhat1
@Don_Milton
@vfmcneill
@CorsIAQ
@gcmorr
@j_g_allen
@CathNoakes

More from Culture

@bellingcat's attempt in their new book, published by
@BloomsburyBooks, to coverup the @OPCW #Douma controversy, promote US and UK gov. war narratives, and whitewash fraudulent conduct within the OPCW, is an exercise in deception through omission. @BloomsburyPub @Tim_Hayward_


1) 2000 words are devoted to the OPCW controversy regarding the alleged chemical weapon attack in #Douma, Syria in 2018 but critical material is omitted from the book. Reading it, one would never know the following:

2) That the controversy started when the original interim report, drafted and agreed by Douma inspection team members, was secretly modified by an unknown OPCW person who had manipulated the findings to suggest an attack had occurred. https://t.co/QtAAyH9WyX… @RobertF40396660


3) This act of attempted deception was only derailed because an inspector discovered the secret changes. The manipulations were reported by @ClarkeMicah
and can be readily observed in documents now available https://t.co/2BUNlD8ZUv….

4) @bellingcat's book also makes no mention of the @couragefoundation panel, attended by the @opcw's first Director General, Jose Bustani, at which an OPCW official detailed key procedural irregularities and scientific flaws with the Final Douma Report:

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Ivor Cummins has been wrong (or lying) almost entirely throughout this pandemic and got paid handsomly for it.

He has been wrong (or lying) so often that it will be nearly impossible for me to track every grift, lie, deceit, manipulation he has pulled. I will use...


... other sources who have been trying to shine on light on this grifter (as I have tried to do, time and again:


Example #1: "Still not seeing Sweden signal versus Denmark really"... There it was (Images attached).
19 to 80 is an over 300% difference.

Tweet: https://t.co/36FnYnsRT9


Example #2 - "Yes, I'm comparing the Noridcs / No, you cannot compare the Nordics."

I wonder why...

Tweets: https://t.co/XLfoX4rpck / https://t.co/vjE1ctLU5x


Example #3 - "I'm only looking at what makes the data fit in my favour" a.k.a moving the goalposts.

Tweets: https://t.co/vcDpTu3qyj / https://t.co/CA3N6hC2Lq
#ஆதித்தியஹ்ருதயம் ஸ்தோத்திரம்
இது சூரிய குலத்தில் உதித்த இராமபிரானுக்கு தமிழ் முனிவர் அகத்தியர் உபதேசித்ததாக வால்மீகி இராமாயணத்தில் வருகிறது. ஆதித்ய ஹ்ருதயத்தைத் தினமும் ஓதினால் பெரும் பயன் பெறலாம் என மகான்களும் ஞானிகளும் காலம் காலமாகக் கூறி வருகின்றனர். ராம-ராவண யுத்தத்தை


தேவர்களுடன் சேர்ந்து பார்க்க வந்திருந்த அகத்தியர், அப்போது போரினால் களைத்து, கவலையுடன் காணப்பட்ட ராமபிரானை அணுகி, மனிதர்களிலேயே சிறந்தவனான ராமா போரில் எந்த மந்திரத்தைப் பாராயணம் செய்தால் எல்லா பகைவர்களையும் வெல்ல முடியுமோ அந்த ரகசிய மந்திரத்தை, வேதத்தில் சொல்லப்பட்டுள்ளதை உனக்கு

நான் உபதேசிக்கிறேன், கேள் என்று கூறி உபதேசித்தார். முதல் இரு சுலோகங்கள் சூழ்நிலையை விவரிக்கின்றன. மூன்றாவது சுலோகம் அகத்தியர் இராமபிரானை விளித்துக் கூறுவதாக அமைந்திருக்கிறது. நான்காவது சுலோகம் முதல் முப்பதாம் சுலோகம் வரை ஆதித்ய ஹ்ருதயம் என்னும் நூல். முப்பத்தி ஒன்றாம் சுலோகம்

இந்தத் துதியால் மகிழ்ந்த சூரியன் இராமனை வாழ்த்துவதைக் கூறுவதாக அமைந்திருக்கிறது.
ஐந்தாவது ஸ்லோகம்:
ஸர்வ மங்கள் மாங்கல்யம் ஸர்வ பாப ப்ரநாசனம்
சிந்தா சோக ப்ரசமனம் ஆயுர் வர்த்தனம் உத்தமம்
பொருள்: இந்த அதித்ய ஹ்ருதயம் என்ற துதி மங்களங்களில் சிறந்தது, பாவங்களையும் கவலைகளையும்


குழப்பங்களையும் நீக்குவது, வாழ்நாளை நீட்டிப்பது, மிகவும் சிறந்தது. இதயத்தில் வசிக்கும் பகவானுடைய அனுக்ரகத்தை அளிப்பதாகும்.
முழு ஸ்லோக லிங்க் பொருளுடன் இங்கே உள்ளது
https://t.co/Q3qm1TfPmk
சூரியன் உலக இயக்கத்திற்கு மிக முக்கியமானவர். சூரிய சக்தியால்தான் ஜீவராசிகள், பயிர்கள்