02-26-2020, 02:34 PM
Has anyone seen the crazy prices for surgical masks on Amazon and Ebay? Normally a box of 50 would cost about £5 in the UK (including P&P) and obviously cheaper still if bought in bulk. Now boxes of 50 masks are getting close to £100. People are selling them in smaller quantities... £20 for ten masks.
I spoke with a doctor in my family about the surgical type of masks (not N95). He said they were good for patients (or potential patients) with the virus as it limits the spread. However if you are healthy they won't do much to protect you. The most you could hope for is that they stop you touching your mouth so much.
The area where ordinary people can do the most is washing their hands properly, or using an alcohol gel/spray if no soap and water is available. That's all stuff we should do anyway just to avoid regular colds and flu.
I spoke with a doctor in my family about the surgical type of masks (not N95). He said they were good for patients (or potential patients) with the virus as it limits the spread. However if you are healthy they won't do much to protect you. The most you could hope for is that they stop you touching your mouth so much.
The area where ordinary people can do the most is washing their hands properly, or using an alcohol gel/spray if no soap and water is available. That's all stuff we should do anyway just to avoid regular colds and flu.