News COVID-19 pandemic

[Sunhillow]

Thanks! Do you mean the conic big ones for american coffee?

In Germany, we also use the conical paper filters.
Yesterday I thought about using filter bags for vacuum cleaners to try out self-made face masks, as they are multi-layer and quite sturdy.

 

[fort]

Hi guy

I read somewhere that coffee filters could be interesting as Urwumpe says it.

If you could find some Tyvek, manufactured by Dupont, whose filtration is close to one micron (the corona is a little below, 0.1, but wrapped in saliva drops, bigger). Used in baby diapers for example. Cheap. Sold by the meter or by the sheet. An example here (https://www.tissus-hemmers.fr/tyvek-uni-blanc) but the delivery, times, here, have considerably increased over the past 15 days. We must be able to find it elsewhere (the protective suits for men who spray chemicals in agriculture, for example, but I fear that the Tyvek will be doubled there). Another thing, more sophisticated, the non-woven SMS type (https://www.stericlin.fr/systemes-d...-sterilisation/produkt/double-feuille-smssms/). I saw other solutions, one of which is to make paper towel electrostatic which seems to be one of the principles of FFP2. Interesting, with a demonstration ( dont look at the mask itself but to the principle ). Go to read the video on youtube: there are some comments coming with the and links to the research/studies at the beginning of that ( i read it and it seems well documented ).

Here ( but in french ):

Test:

Last thing: I use (uncontaminated environment) cloth masks, which I put in the 'wash' after each use for a few hours (in fact, I spray alcohol at 70 ° and I leave to dry, but there has other solutions). I wanted to see what happened to a FFP2 cleaned in the same way. In fact it holds up well. After some research on the internet, it does not seem impossible to clean them this way and to reuse them several times and they will in my opinion be no less good after that than a coffee filter or a cloth mask.

 

[Artlav]

Apparently the masks can be cleaned by heating at 70 ℃ for 30 minutes.

https://utrf.tennessee.edu/informat...tection-sterilization-of-face-mask-materials/

 

[fred18]

First of all thank all of you for your kind answers and support! I knew this community is on the high end and can provide some real useful information! :tiphat:

Then on a side and kind of funny note, when I read this:

If you could find some Tyvek, manufactured by Dupont, whose filtration is close to one micron (the corona is a little below, 0.1, but wrapped in saliva drops, bigger). Used in baby diapers for example.

I laughed, and not because of diapers itself, but because we have two small daughters and my wife couldn't find diapers resupplies, so she tried to order to two different suppliers... and guess what... both suppliers first cancelled the order but then surprisingly brought all the diapers so I have a stockpile of them in the basement and I thought that I didn't even know if our daughters were going to actually use all of them... well it seems that I can find some new use for them :lol:

I will get deeper into this mask filter thing and will let you know what seems to work and what not.

 

[Frilock]

Feds charge man who intentionally derailed train near USNS Mercy

The suspect told investigators he wanted to bring attention to the government’s activities regarding COVID-19 and was suspicious of the hospital ship.

 

[jedidia]

After the coverage of the arrival of the comfort in NY, I think everybody was aware of the Mercy in LA. Admittedly I first confused this with the comfort, but still... calling attention to well-covered events through near-terrorist acts seems a weird choice.

 

[Quick_Nick]

U.S. weekly unemployment numbers are released every Thursday morning.

Today we find that 6.6 million made new unemployment claims last week.
Doubling the 3.3 million from last week's report, which in turn was several times higher than the previous record.

 

[dbeachy1]

Found some good information about federal loans & help available for small businesses in the US. Here are some excerpts:

Q&A: How to get aid for a small business hit by virus crisis

ARE THESE PAYCHECK PROTECTION LOANS FREE?

They can be, if they’re used to retain or hire workers. Starting Friday, the Small Business Administration is guaranteeing $349 billion in potentially forgivable loans under the rescue package. A business with up to 500 employees, including owners who work solo and freelancers, can borrow up to $10 million to be repaid over two years at an annual rate of 0.5%. The money that’s used to pay salaries can be forgiven, and a portion of money used for rent, mortgage interest and/or utilities can be at least partially forgiven. Payments are deferred for six months.

You technically could get the full amount of the loan forgiven. But if you cut jobs — say you had 10 employees, let them go, and hired back only five — the amount of loan forgiveness will be reduced, and you’ll have to repay some.

But a caveat from the government: Because so many owners are expected to take advantage of the loans, it’s anticipated that no more than 25% of the forgiven amount may be for things other than payroll — rent, mortgage interest and utilities. So there’s a good chance you will have some repayments ahead.

You can learn more about the loans at https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/paycheck-protection-program-ppp.

HOW DO I GET ONE?
The government says this will be a fast, streamlined process — some companies could get money the same day, not like the weeks it takes when applying for a traditional SBA loan. You can apply through any federally insured bank, credit union or farm credit system institution, not just a traditional SBA lender. Most businesses are expected to apply online, through a financial institution’s website.

You don’t need collateral or a personal guarantee. But you’ll need to document your payroll, rent, mortgage interest and utilities expenses. The payroll portion of the loan is based on the monthly average of what a company paid employees during the year prior to the loan being granted.

___

WHEN WILL MY LOAN BE FORGIVEN?
The government will calculate how much of a loan will be forgiven after June 30. The program covers the period from Feb. 15 through June 30 and owners will need to document how many workers they employed during that time and how much they were paid.

If you’ve laid off workers, you have until June 30 to rehire them — but the sooner you rehire and start paying them, the larger your loan forgiveness will be.
…
WHAT OTHER MONEY IS AVAILABLE?
The Federal Reserve is working on a program to provide loans directly to small businesses. The details have not been announced yet.
Individual states, counties and cities may have loans or grants for small businesses. And those that have not yet announced any programs may yet create them — the outbreak has not yet reached its peak. Check online with your state or local agencies that support small businesses.

___

CAN FREELANCERS GET UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS AND A LOAN TOO?
Yes. The rescue package provides for unemployment benefits for freelancers and independent contractors who haven’t qualified for such help in the past. So millions of people, including wedding photographers, graphic artists and writers, who have lost gigs or projects can get unemployment benefits. They’re also eligible for paycheck protection loans — but if they have both types of loans, they cannot use disaster loan money to cover payroll.

More information is in the full article.

 

[Quick_Nick]

My brother was laid off this week. Lots of lessons learned.
The unemployment websites and phone lines are overwhelmed and unavailable.
His unemployment payment will only consider what he made in 2018 so it will be much smaller than if it considered 2019.
He must wait on his unused Paid Time Off to get cashed out before receiving assistance.

And CRUCIALLY, we learned that the CARES Act clauses covering 401k withdrawal (3 years to pay it back, up to $100k) do NOT require plan administrators to allow these CoronaVirus Distributions.
His plan has not allowed them yet, so he would take a penalty if he withdrew from his retirement savings.

 

[Urwumpe]

I am now on 50% reduced working hours. Which is a bit annoying since I kept 90% of the work. It is very hard to do the same things in 4 hours, that you usually had 8 for.

 

[Notebook]

Is that legal?

 

[4throck]

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Samuel Jackson offering his advice (beware: colorful language)



[ame]https://twitter.com/i/status/1245778791592366082[/ame]

 

[Thunder Chicken]

National BobbleHead Museum is offering Dr. Fauci bobbleheads for $25 with part of the proceeds going to the American Hospital Association.


https://www.bobbleheadhall.com/dr-fauci-bobblehead-with-a-cause-unveiled/

 

[Notebook]

BBC is restructuring its radio and tv and web output during the current problem.

The BBC today unveils its biggest push on education in its history - ensuring that every child in the UK has the opportunity to continue to follow the appropriate core parts of their nation’s school curriculum in these challenging times.

Whether complementing what schools are providing remotely, or as a standalone resource, the BBC’s newly expanded education offer will bring 14 weeks of educational programmes and lessons to every household in the country - whatever your child’s age.

Every child in the UK to have their education supported as BBC offers a wide range of curriculum related learning for children of all ages across all four nations

From BBC News.

Not a great surprise as Public Service Broadcasting is built into its charter.
Its messing up my Shipping Forecast listening though...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04l37bp

 

[kuddel]

Its messing up my Shipping Forecast listening though...

That's a pity...How exactly is it changing that?

 

[Notebook]

They've moved the time!

Used to be 05:15 local every morning, as BBC World Service changed to BBC 4 on the VHF radio band.
Was 05:45 today, I'm very confused.

 

[Frilock]

Bill Gates is funding new factories for 7 potential coronavirus vaccines, even though it will waste billions of dollars

Bill Gates is plugging money into building factories for seven promising coronavirus vaccines, despite the fact it will mean wasting billions of dollars.

In a preview clip released from Friday's episode of The Daily Show, the Microsoft billionaire told host Trevor Noah that his philanthropic organization, the Gates Foundation, can mobilize faster than governments to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

"Because our foundation has such deep expertise in infectious diseases, we've thought about the epidemic, we did fund some things to be more prepared like a vaccine effort, our early money can accelerate things," said Gates.

Gates said he was picking the top seven from the available vaccine candidates and building manufacturing capacity for them. "Even though we'll end up picking at most two of them, we're going to fund factories for all seven just so we don't waste time in serially saying 'ok which vaccine works' and then building the factory," he said.

Gates said simultaneously testing and building manufacturing capacity is essential to reaching the best-case fastest developed version of a vaccine, which Gates believes could take about 18 months. In a Washington Post op-ed published earlier this week, Gates said that some of the top candidates require unique equipment.

"It'll be a few billion dollars we'll waste on manufacturing for the constructs that don't get picked because something else is better. But a few billion in this situation we're in, where there's trillions of dollars [...] being lost economically, it is worth it," Gates said.

"We [the Gates Foundation] can get that bootstrapped and get it going, and save months because every month counts," he added.

 

[jedidia]

BBC is restructuring its radio and tv and web output during the current problem.

Me, after reading this, to my wife: "Gee, that's a great idea, our national television could do that too!"
Her: "Dear, we have 26 cantons, each one with its own curriculum."
The joys of federalism... :lol:

 

[Artlav]

I'm a bit surprised such a thing as "kids watching TV" is still a thing.