Short 🧵

1/ Just as #B117 #covid19 variant is spreading more effectively, so too do each of our interventions have to be that much more effective

•masks— need better source control & personal protection

•testing— scaled up + smarter use of rapid antigen tests for control
2/
•Tracing— needs to be much faster; digital tracing was used in other countries, NY & others tried an opt in system via apps, unclear how that did

•Isolating — other countries used isolation spaces outside of the home- our efforts here started but didn’t seem to pick up
3/ •vaccines— we know this effort has been very inefficient; many others have opined strategies for how to improve

•quarantine— similar to isolation above; need masks at home, need paid time off for folks; otherwise, people will do what they need to survive/ put food on table
4/ Ventilation— need to encourage smarter strategies in day to day situations; windows down in ride shares; windows open at home/workplaces; reinforce notion of avoiding “shared air”

Everything we are doing we need to be doing better & more effectively #covid19

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More from @AbraarKaran

20 Jan
1/ This is big— Germany now mandating medical grade masks for all citizens in public transport & in supermarkets (last week only done in Bavaria region, which is even stricter- only FFP2 masks)

Germany is calling for FFP2, N95, KN95 or surgical masks

washingtonpost.com/world/europe/e… Image
2/ “Meanwhile in France, the country’s health advisory council on Monday discouraged the wearing of inefficient cloth and homemade masks, also arguing they may not offer sufficient protection against the more highly transmissible coronavirus variants.”
3/ “The new European recommendations follow increases in supply since the early days of the pandemic, when there were concerns that the use of medical masks by the public would mean there would not be enough for front-line medical workers.”

Read that again. ⬆️ SUPPLY
Read 7 tweets
15 Jan
Interesting albeit limited report here
7 infected #covid19 patients asked to wear:

-no mask
-surgical mask
-KF94
-N95

and asked to cough 5 times into petri dishes

Swabs taken from inside + outside of masks and measured growth on dishes

What did they find?
#covid19
2/ In 3 out of 7 cases, virus was detected in the petri dish when wearing no mask or wearing a surgical mask

When wearing the Hi-Fi mask, no virus was detected.

Both inside + outside of surgical masks w/ detectable virus

Only the inside of Hi-Fi masks w/ detectable virus
3/ This attempts to get at *source control*

We will have more and more people walking around not even knowing they are sick or contagious

The better masks these people have, presumably lower chance they spread this #covid19
Read 5 tweets
15 Jan
1/ #BetterMasks - why and how

First, why do we even need high-filtration masks right now?

Increasingly, we are going to be (or already are) in crowded, poorly ventilated spaces- groceries, public transit, work, school etc
#covid19

2/ If can agree that we need these...what qualities should these masks have?

We talk about that in our @HarvardBiz piece on #BetterMasks

Fit
Filtration
Comfort
Affordability
Scalability
Style

#covid19

hbr.org/2020/06/we-nee…
3/ Given huge delays in getting any of this done...what options are available right now, off the shelf?

One of these - elastomeric (eN95s) which are used in different industries and were used by some hospitals can get job done

#covid19
hbr.org/2020/10/essent…
Read 16 tweets
15 Jan
Short🧵
1/
So @CDCgov on their “Your Guide to Masks” has a section saying don’t use N95s or surgical masks for the general public bc they are reserved for healthcare workers. That is their reason. They invoke a *shortage of supply* as their main rationale
cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…
2/ On a separate page, they talk about the presumption that most transmission of #covid19 is happening via droplets but in *special circumstances* transmission happens via aerosols as well

What are those?

Enclosed spaces w/ poor ventilation

cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…
3/ In those situations, N95 & other high filtration masks are key. @cdcgov if there’s a supply issue then *fix* it

Bc being in enclosed crowded spaces is not a *special circumstance*

Many Americans find themselves in these situations every single day, from transit to groceries
Read 8 tweets
14 Jan
Southern German state of Bavaria makes N95 masks *mandatory* (their version called FFP2) when using public transport or entering retail stores.

#covid19 h/t @sri_srikrishna
dw.com/en/covid-germa…
Agree w/ this— need to make sure these masks are free to the public! #covid19 #betterMasks #Bavaria

spiegel.de/international/…
Read 4 tweets
14 Jan
Short thread
1/ One of the weirdest things about our quarantine policies in this country is that they were never actually enforced

We’ve been functioning on scout’s honor for 11 months & it doesn’t seem to be working? #covid19
2/ I personally know a number of people that traveled south for the holidays & did not quarantine upon arrival to Massachusetts- hell some even went to bars when they got back (@marty_walsh - one reason why these should be *temporarily closed*- not limited capacity)
3/ And for those that are staying home to quarantine, unclear what % are actually full on in quarantine in the house (essentially pretending you’re infectious, masking if you leave the room, eating/sleeping separately etc) #covid19
Read 4 tweets

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