TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) responded to criticism by Austrians that Taiwan-made masks are not up to standard, compared to the FFP2 masks Austrians are required to wear.
The Taiwan women’s basketball team went to Austria to participate in the 3-on-3 Olympic qualifying tournament, but the masks worn by the team did not comply with Austrian regulations, Liberty Times reported. Taiwan’s basketball authority said that the competition’s organizers did not inform them that Austria’s standards for mask specifications are different from those of other countries. However, after seeking assistance, the team has obtained enough 3D masks for their stay in the European nation.
Previously, other countries did not have enough masks for their population and often fell back on using cloth masks. Now, some countries require FFP2 masks while Taiwan is still widely using regular medical masks.
Maybe Taiwan should start using masks with better filtration ability - especially for medical personnel and people at exposed positions.
Half of the masks were contaminated with one or more strains of pneumonia-causing bacteria. One-third were contaminated with one or more strains of meningitis-causing bacteria. One-third were contaminated with dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. In addition, less dangerous pathogens were identified, including pathogens that can cause fever, ulcers, acne, yeast infections, strep throat, periodontal disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and more.
The face masks studied were new or freshly-laundered before wearing and had been worn for 5 to 8 hours, most during in-person schooling by children aged 6 through 11. One was worn by an adult. A t-shirt worn by one of the children at school and unworn masks were tested as controls. No pathogens were found on the controls. Proteins found on the t-shirt, for example, are not pathogenic to humans and are commonly found in hair, skin, and soil.
Everyone carries bacteria in their nose and throat without it making them sick. Streptococcus pneumoniae is found in the nose and throat of 10 - 40 % of healthy people without causing any symptoms of illness in these people.
Plus if you’re breathing out nasty pathogens and coating your mask with them, it means they’re already in your body. At least the mask is lowering the chance that you infect others with your germs. Kinda the idea of masks, eh?
What I find interesting is that the anti-maskers seem to be divided into two groups: One groups believes that the masks make children sick because they contain lots of harmful bacteria. The other group believes that wearing masks is harmful because they keep to many germs away from the children causing allergies and a weak immune system
I’m not antimask but I can see a difference. The naturally occurring bacteria in the environment would surely be different than the bacteria that builds up on a mask. There was a scientist that traveled across the oceans and took samples of seawater. He found the bacteria makeup between locations mere meters away could be quite different.
Double down…Just say everybody that follows public health recommendations are wrong …ergo not wearing a mask is the smart thing to do…Who cares if they are spewing virus aerosols everywhere right…
Kid’s mask? They are talking as if masks are reusable. You are supposed to throw them away and use a new one every single time for this exact reason. Bacteria will start to grow because of the moisture.
Sure, if it makes you happy. They’re wrong. People out on the cycle paths “spewing virus” are not a public health risk, and wearing a mask doesn’t magically make them harmless. With your qualifications, you know for a fact that this is nonsense. But you have to support mask mandates, because that’s congruent with your other beliefs (eg., that COVID will kill everybody).
The reason they’re wrong is not merely that masks don’t work. People do all sorts of daft things that don’t work, but they’re largely harmless. Here’s just one problem: when you have a lot of people walking around in masks, the level of social proof is so strong that people feel stressed if (for whatever reason) they can’t comply. You get people surreptiously pulling their masks down to take a drink, for example, or wearing a chin diaper while jogging so they can quickly pull it up if someone passes by (because, who knows, you might get reported and fined!). This is not normal human behaviour. In 2019, people would have expressed concern for your mental health if you showed that level of hypochondria. Now the reverse is true. That’s just one particular unpleasant aspect of masks - there are plenty of others that have been discussed at length.
When you comply with an order that causes more harms than it solves, that puts you in a moral bind. You know you’re doing wrong, and you know that your agency has been taken away from you, but you have to justify it to yourself. This causes all sorts of psychological pain, and makes you vulnerable to further manipulation.
…ergo not wearing a mask is the smart thing to do…Who cares if they are spewing virus aerosols everywhere right…