yes, but the CDC would then go on to issue guidance that permitted valved respirators, and basically no one actually updated their policy or communicated that to staff
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The CDC having bad instincts is a problem but frankly they are pretty good at updating, if sometimes kinda slow. It's everyone else who sucks at that part!
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i don't agree that source control instead of (imo: at the expense of) individual protection was a reasonable goal
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I don't think think there were ever shortages of 3M masks and filters as long as you weren't too picky about which kind you wanted. The shortages were for non-elastomeric masks. It was hard to find an elastomeric respirator WITHOUT a valve but the normal ones were available.
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Eh, maybe, but I recall hearing about big problems scaling up melt-blown fabric production early on.
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The fact that they're already domestically produced in Canada and the US to the point that a ton of them are being exported would have helped a lot. The elastomeric mask filters are also massively more efficient in terms of the materials that are used and the ease of making them.
They could have at least gotten these for health care workers and avoided shortages of nurses/doctors. They were instead rationing and overusing N95 masks which were likely largely poorly fitted and not ideal even if they were. There was only a shortage because of mismanagement.
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Remember when they were telling people you needed to be a professional to use a mask properly, and that N95 masks absolutely shouldn't be bought outside health care? Even then, they were not buying up the supply of these industrial masks which actually would have worked better.
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