Given the average age of audiophiles, no offence intended, doing your part is to stay safe, stay healthy, and stay out of the hospital. Don't be ashamed to ask for help if you have high infection rates in your area. Ask someone to get your groceries, etc.
CAN WE AUDIOPHILES DO OUR PART?
So we're all tired of hearing about nothing but Covid-19 (or, as I term it, the C-Plague). What can we do, as audiophiles, to help with all this.
I was amazed, and delighted, when I went to the Cardas website to see that they are doing their part. Go to their website and you'll see their director, Angela Cardas, wearing a mask. If you click on the Cardas Nautilus logo in the upper left corner, you'll see pictures of people there in the factory making masks with sewing machines. I called the company to congratulate them, and spoke with a woman named Darla, who said it was their way, during this economic slump, to keep their employees working and also their way of trying to "do our part."
I'm not writing all this to advertise Cardas products. They are a very good company, but trust your ears, not anything I write, when it comes to buying their products. They do get credit, however, for helping me come to a realization that pushed me in the right direction. I called a woman I am friends with, who is 85 years old and is a good seamstress, to suggest she start making masks. She already was--and is. By phone she has organized several other women to do the same, and right now they are needing more material and elastic. I managed to gather about 50 pounds of material and am starting to gather elastic while also getting more material. But I don't sew. I can't help out with that. Any ideas as to what we--all of us who are good with our ears and focused with our budgets--can do to help out in other ways?
I realize this is an odd topic to bring to an audio forum, but it was a very socially responsible audio company that got me to thinking about it, and frankly I believe I should be socially responsible enough to do what I can to get other people to thinking about it. While also being open to other people's ideas about ways someone like me who is "just an audiophile" can help.
Thank you, in advance, for any and all ideas on this.
I was amazed, and delighted, when I went to the Cardas website to see that they are doing their part. Go to their website and you'll see their director, Angela Cardas, wearing a mask. If you click on the Cardas Nautilus logo in the upper left corner, you'll see pictures of people there in the factory making masks with sewing machines. I called the company to congratulate them, and spoke with a woman named Darla, who said it was their way, during this economic slump, to keep their employees working and also their way of trying to "do our part."
I'm not writing all this to advertise Cardas products. They are a very good company, but trust your ears, not anything I write, when it comes to buying their products. They do get credit, however, for helping me come to a realization that pushed me in the right direction. I called a woman I am friends with, who is 85 years old and is a good seamstress, to suggest she start making masks. She already was--and is. By phone she has organized several other women to do the same, and right now they are needing more material and elastic. I managed to gather about 50 pounds of material and am starting to gather elastic while also getting more material. But I don't sew. I can't help out with that. Any ideas as to what we--all of us who are good with our ears and focused with our budgets--can do to help out in other ways?
I realize this is an odd topic to bring to an audio forum, but it was a very socially responsible audio company that got me to thinking about it, and frankly I believe I should be socially responsible enough to do what I can to get other people to thinking about it. While also being open to other people's ideas about ways someone like me who is "just an audiophile" can help.
Thank you, in advance, for any and all ideas on this.
Showing 21 responses by heaudio123
Do viruses now respect inter-county borders? The fact that your experience has been different is THE main issue. The response to the pandemic was general and central. THAT was the mistake. Counties in northern California with ZERO cases never needed the same measures as New York City. |
The 62,000 is an estimate. That is NOT the number listed as Flu on the death certificate. The CDC does look at peumonia deaths above the typical average and does attribute them to flu when making their estimates for deaths. The country is in lock down and that 62,000 number was blown through in not much more than a month. Not being properly informed is not your friend. One thing is consistent between the 1918 flu in this one .... people's behaviors, good and bad. That does not mean all lock down measures make sense. Some of them really do not, protest those, but overall, this is not just some seasonal flu. While flu deaths in children are reported to CDC, flu deaths in adults are not nationally notifiable. In order to monitor influenza related deaths in all age groups, CDC tracks pneumonia and influenza (P&I)-attributed deaths through the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Mortality Reporting System. This system tracks the proportion of death certificates processed that list pneumonia or influenza as the underlying or contributing cause of death. This system provides an overall indication of whether flu-associated deaths are elevated, but does not provide an exact number of how many people died from flu. 2017-8 flu season 62,000 died and 25,000,000 were hospitalized. Now one of the results of flu in elderly is of course pneumonia and when they die of pneumonia that is how it was listed. With this wuhan crap they take anything even remotely exacerbated by wuhan and claim it to be a wuhan death. Never do they say it is from people with other serious life ending on their own problems in combination with wuhan with an average age of 75. |
Sweden and the Netherlands are similar. Denmark and Norway are obviously much better better. Differences in reporting are not going to compensate for the significant differences. The US, though, is currently much better than many European countries, but the US is much earlier into it's recovery, and has been pointed out, the US is geographically much more like all of Europe, than just any one country. With Spanish Flu, the US never had a 3rd wave like many countries did ... because their 2nd wave never ended so a 3rd could begin. The 2nd wave was 5-6 months long as it moved through the country. |
This is not a political statement, but an attempt to look factually on what has happened and what is happening. I believe the only thing that would have reduced the total number of cases in the U.S. would have been to restrict foreign travel extensively much earlier. I don't remember a whole lot of support for that from any side. In conjunction with that, 2 other things would have had to happen, inter-state travel would have had to be greatly reduced (good luck doing that constitutionally), and the cities and states would have had to shut down much earlier. Remember the mayor of NY was promoting people to get out and enjoy life and go to restaurants in almost mid-March, and Biden was holding large rallies. NY state was not shut down till March 22. By then it was too late, too many infected in NY, and those people had spread it around the country and vice-versa. I am not saying the federal response post mid-March response has been coherent, but, I don't think the outcome, overall, would have been much different with a different government as there was no willpower early enough on either side to do what was needed. Singapore is a great example of how hard this is to control once it is out in the wild. Single city-state, significant contract tracing, and isolation measures, but like Sweden, never shut down. It worked great for them, initially, until everyone returned from abroad and the system could no longer keep up. High population density now works against them, and they have now 26,000 cases, though they claim very few deaths, which seems suspect, though they really did not start till mid-late April. |
Okay fair deal ozzy62, I will send you over some paper work then for you to sign. It will state that you will agree to:
Please have it witnessed as well. Thank You ozzy62919 posts05-14-2020 2:26pm And even then, it should be their choice depending on how concerned they are for THEIR own health. |
Pretty much any metropolitan area that has not implemented strict measures had a large outbreak, and even with strict measures, the outbreaks are significant. To say we don't know if they are related is ludicrous, based on available data we have for this virus already. While antibody rates are higher then expected, the sampling so far is minimal, and there is nothing to indicate a mortality overall of at least 1%, which if 50% of the US became infected, would be 1.6 million people, except it would end up being much higher because at that infection rate, the hospitals would be overwhelmed and the death rate would go up. It is because of the effectiveness of distancing measures this has been avoided. It is so easy to see in the graphs the direct impacts of these measures. To claim we can say that for sure is ludicrous. There is no evidence, beyond some weak anecdotal evidence, of it being around longer than thought, except maybe a few weeks to a month. See the post I made earlier about the choir practice and how supercarriers can infect huge numbers in close quarters. Look at meat packing plant infection rates. If it had been around longer, these things would have been happening. Epidemiology and medical doctor are not the same skill set as well. It really gives you little in the way of special skills to predict what will happen. Someone good at math, statistics and modelling will be far better qualified. How do cases get found in those that strictly isolated? ... 1) They were not as strict as claimed (or most likely thought). 2) The incubation period can be longer than 2 weeks. Walmarts are grocery stores. Well that's just the problem. First, as you say, came the dire predictions. They did not pan out. Not anywhere close. You suggest that is because of the stringent response. But, as a physician you understand that because two things are true does not mean they are related. And in the case of stay at home orders, shutting down schools and closing businesses (but not Walmart of course) there is no solid evidence that it worked or even could work. Recent data of testing all the members of large groups is showing that large percentages of those testing positive were completely asymptomatic. Much larger than previously thought. This shows several things including that the virus is more pervasive than previously thought, less deadly than previously thought and probably around longer than thought. This, coupled with the fact that an increasing number of cases are being found in those who have strictly followed social isolation as well as new cases in nursing homes that have followed strict guidelines. |
Of course masks properly worn can protect you if of the N95 or good filtering type. Your statement is all a bunch of if .. if .. if. The most likely action is the drop is in the air and you inhale it. Flow studies and simulations have shown this is the most likely airborn transfer ... inhaled, though eyes can be a transfer point (ears? .. not heard that). The mask does prevent you from touching your mouth and nose, and after you take off your mask, you should sanitize your hands. Someone sneezing on you is not normal.
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No not any barrier. Droplets (not large sneeze/cough particle), have a tendency to break up in the air and the heaviest ones drop fastest. A home made mask is more effective at preventing the exhalation of large droplets, that it is at preventing ingress when the average particle size has reduced some distance from the inhaler. As exhalation is under pressure, the home-made masks are not as good at filtering out small particles being exhaled, but they are better at stopping inhalation. Not intuitive, but ACTUAL TESTS, not anecdotal guesses have shown this. To this end, home made masks (not well made with HEPA), and non-N95/N100 masks, provide more benefit to everyone else, than they do to you. Things won't be logical if you based your logic on guesses and not actual science. First, we know that coronavirus is spread by droplets. Virtually any barrier in front of the face will keep droplets out of the nose and mouth of the wearer. In that regard, the mask being worn is primarily to protect the wearer and is effective in that role. So if you need a mask you should wear one to protect yourself. Sure there may be some added protection for others if you wear a mask. But not much over the mask they should be wearing if they need one. So in this case the idea that we should wear a surgical or homemade mask to protect others is not really logical. |
"Catching a virus" and becoming "sick" is a statistical event. Yes, you can get sick from a single virus. Highly unlikely but you can. When you are exposed, your immune system, even though this is "novel" does not do nothing. It has generalized responses. Every viral particle you are exposed to increases the odds the infection with "catch". Bunches of particles have protection from mucus and water layer of the person transmitting that can increases the likelihood of infection, hence why large droplets are more a concern. Air does leak around the edges even of an N95, but see my first line above. This is all statistic. The infected person wearing a mask, you wearing a mask, distancing especially in indoor spaces, etc. all reduce your statistical chances of catching the virus. It will never be 0 chance if there is an infected person close, but you work to get it as low as possible. Within a society, the goal is to get the R0 < 1, which means cases are dropping, not increasing. All these measures reduce R0. p.s. I wear a P100 respirator for grocery shopping. It's worth it just for the looks I get. Second, there is some concern that the virus is spread as an aerosol. There is no confirmation of this and even Fauci has said he cannot prove it. An aerosolized virus can linger in the air like a mist. To be protected from an aerosol you would need to have a custom fitted N95 medical mask that allows no air in around the nose and chin area and filters better than typical masks. Virtually no one has these. With all other masks, even surgical masks, air can be drawn in around the edges and thus would not protect you from an aerosolized virus. |
Pretty obvious from your posts and mine geoffkait, who knows what they are talking about ... it is not you. geoffkait21,738 posts05-14-2020 5:59pmheaudio123, you’re even more gullible than I already thought. Most so called n95 masks are not even n95 spec. |
Maybe they don't think much where you are geoffkait, but I have not experienced anyone who thinks a mask is magic protection, and if anything people in masks tends to be more "aware" ...it's a constant reminder. This concept that people will treat it like "magic shielding" is conjecture, but with safety equipment, people generally don't treat themselves as invincible. Look for studies on it in general. Often it creates higher awareness of risk. This was the same stupid argument people made about seat-belts believe it or not. Detractors claimed that seat belts would make people drive worse because they would feel invincible. Obviously, that never happened. |
Many hotels in Asia have these or a version of them at least. Inhale though the front, but exhale is inside the unit which causes it to inflate and provides positive pressure. http://m.bijkerk.webnode.nl/assortiment-en-prijzen/informatie-fire-escape-mask/ |
So totally lacking in self awareness. geoffkait21,745 posts05-14-2020 7:41pmSo gullible! 🤗 In the guise of being scientific. So funny! Perhaps you’ve heard of the continuing problems in Asia concerning COVID-19. |
It's convenient to beat on the US given their "colorful" president, but that in no way changes that Belgium, Spain, Italy, France, UK, Spain and Sweden, so far, have more deaths as a portion of population. Given that the U.S. population is in general "unhealthier" with very high rates of obesity and diabetes, perhaps the microscope needs to be turned equally well on these other countries. |
And as geoffkait proves, 21885 times, audiophiles could do our part, but unlikely would, as they could never stay on topic long enough, and would quickly divert from the task at hand to their personal bugaboo. If you could make the necessary tasks look like a cable discussion, perhaps you may be able to get audiophiles to do their part, just give some of the audiophiles a hammer and a square peg so they can feel at home. |
Mainly you prove my statements correct. I appreciate it. Thank you. It saves me time. Good to have a court jester to provide a running commentary. geoffkait21,888 posts05-18-2020 6:57pmLooking on the bright side at least I can prove something whereas heaudio123 has yet to prove anything. Or, if I may speak frankly, even evidence of anything. Mostly it’s a lot of who shot John. |