Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) Updates
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lee_yl\" post_id=\"1970880\" time=\"1586608369\" user_id=\"17023:
Their population is 23mil and they only have 300+ cases. Our population 6.5mil yet we already have 2000+ cases.
Ho, Ho, Ho.... taiwan population is 23 million. Frontline work long hours & may need a few changes of masks & double protection. If Taiwan produces 10 million masks a day, it’s hardly sufficient to meet demand.Estéema\" post_id=\"1970872\" time=\"1586606618\" user_id=\"66413:
[quote=lee_yl post_id=1970858 time=1586601483 user_id=17023]In January, I accepted that surgical masks in the national stockpile are meant for frontline use.
Back then, to conserve limited stocks, I (and many Singaporeans) went without masks and we believe not sick no need to wear mask.
But today, things are very different. Masks are now more easily avail in East Asia as compared to Jan with China ramping up their production and countries like Taiwan producing 10 million masks/day.. So our strategy will need to adjust too.
Poor FWs are not eligible for Govt masks. Could things have turned out differently had they been given masks?
Spore starting to hv access to masks, albeit at higher price. I don’t believe our govt will negotiate at high price to satisfy our fears, so best her ppl stay home use less masks. Go out only when nec. Every resident hv responsibility to help stem spread.
...
Taiwanese are known to be quite environmentally friendly. Don’t think all of them use disposable masks. Some may be using reusable cloth masks?
Don’t think the Taiwanese use only locally produced masks, can’t they buy from Vietnam or Indonesia?
If we have a national stockpile of say 100mil surgical masks but our cases continue to surge, our medical facilities will still collapse, no?[/quote]The 2 production lines have been moved back but they only make smaller size N95 grade masks for our small-face HCWs at the moment. It was on TV news.
To make 10mil masks/day, which is 2 per citizen per day, govt would need to take over existing factories and invest in more production lines to make more masks. Other TW conglomerates also chipped in by converting their factories to making masks. I think TW has 90 production lines and only manage 10mil/day?
Before Covid, TW normally buys masks from mainland China. But during the lockdown, Chinese mask factories were shut down.
Why do TW and Vietnam invest in such low-skill factories? Many of their pp ride on scooters and there are coal mines in central TW which pollute the air. Lung cancer is TW's #1 killer. Therefore they have more masks in fashionable designs and colours than anyone else in Asia. -
Regarding the low 300+ nos in TW that we've been so awed by, I think we should also look at the Total no of tests per 1 mil population. Earlier, Gan Kim Yong reported in Parliament it was only 1,000. It is now nearing 2,000 per 1 mil population only. In contrast, Singapore has conducted over 70,000 tests and 12k per 1mil pop. HK has done over 90,000 tests!
The second aspect is the Recovery Nos. I have been keeping tabs on TW's Discharged figures and was puzzled by the low nos, despite being one of the earliest in the world to get the 1st confirmed case on 21 Jan.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
On 1 Apr, TW only had 45 discharged out of low 300s. On that day, we already had 245 discharged. That 45 is super low compared to HK, Korea, Japan (with Diamond Princess' 619 discharged), Msia, Thailand, Philippines and even some European countries which are part of the 2nd BIG WAVE.
7 Apr, I checked again. Only 61! By 7 Apr, Singapore already had discharged many hundreds 377. So I posted my query on one TW forum and got my answer the next day from some health expert.
目前台灣的PCR檢測方式，只能測出體內是否有新冠病毒，但無法確認是活病毒還是死病毒，這得進一步檢查。林氏壁建議，該名金芭黎台商可以考慮採用病毒檢測的方式，確認體內的病毒究竟是死是活，這樣才有出院的機會。
https://news.tvbs.com.tw/local/1305837
Soon after, their CDC released more patients out from isolation. They do not call them 'Discharged'. They use an ambiguous term 'Removed from Isolation'. TW doesn't hv the kit (Duke-NUS type?) to test if the virus had died, unlike us. Their media also reported they had earlier used chloroquine or the like which didn't work on 4 critical patients who had since passed on. Singapore uses a cocktail of antiviral drugs as reported by SCMP some weeks ago. We also have a national stockpile of many types of antiviral drugs.
I suspect TW does not have certain antiviral drugs, or they do not have enough of some, so their cocktail might differ from that administered by Thai docs, HK doc or SG docs. Otherwise, TW which touts itself as the No.1 medical hub in Asia, with 1100 NEP beds and over 1000 ECMOs would not have so few Recovered cases after 3 months.
TW discharged nos are worse than Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France, UK and some Oceania countries which blew up much later. I'd expect the TW younger and stronger returnees to be discharged faster, but TW docs are not releasing them because they lack the test kits to ascertain if they are safe to be returned to the community.
Anyway, after I posted that kaypoh query, I noticed CDC has been discharging more patients all of a sudden - from 61 to 99 in 4 days. :rotflmao: But there is still one Case #3 TW businessman who has been stuck in the hospital for 80+ days! He just cannot give them a negative sample despite swabbing him 20+ times! -
MrsKiasu\" post_id=\"1970891\" time=\"1586610614\" user_id=\"43981:
able to help as filter so I m using it with my cloth masks. You and dds may want to try.
I'd hesitate to use dried wet tissues as they might contain some residual chemicals used to disinfect your whatever. You'd better specify which type of wet wipes u have dried to insert into your cloth mask, else some sotongs reading here might use dried Dettol/Clorox anti-bacterial wipes. :yikes:
Ingredients
Water, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Propylene Glycol, Silicone Quaternium 18, Trideceth 6, Trideceth 12, Polysorbate 80, Benzalkonium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Parfum, Citric Acid, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Sodium Hydroxide
Even those antibacterial baby backside or mouth wipes, make-up facial wipes contain parabens.
Water, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, Methylparaben, Sodium Citrate, Propylparaben
It's one thing to wipe your mouth with these, to clean your butt with these, but another to sniff deeply through these I think?
It's safest to use Tea Towel as the threadcount is high. Tea Towel is supposedly 3rd best in terms of filtration of microparticles after Vacuum Bags. I don't know what fabric those volunteers used to sew free masks for the MWs. Look like those cloths used for making babies' husk pillows.
MWs do wear masks during their working hours. Their employers are bound by WSH guidelines to provide them with masks. But on weekends in Little India, and in the dorms, they do not wear masks as they do not have. They have a lot of hand sanitizers given by the NGOs only. -
For masks, just buy online the disposable surgical masks. Now about 60 cents per piece. I use for 2 days since only go out for grocery and lunch. For a family of 4, less than $40 a month. Just forget about the reusable cloth masks.
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.zeit\" post_id=\"1970939\" time=\"1586659874\" user_id=\"171271:
MrsKiasu\" post_id=\"1970891\" time=\"1586610614\" user_id=\"43981:
I'd hesitate to use dried wet tissues as they might contain some residual chemicals used to disinfect your whatever. You'd better specify which type of wet wipes u have dried to insert into your cloth mask, else some sotongs reading here might use dried Dettol/Clorox anti-bacterial wipes. :yikes:able to help as filter so I m using it with my cloth masks. You and dds may want to try.
Ingredients
Water, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Propylene Glycol, Silicone Quaternium 18, Trideceth 6, Trideceth 12, Polysorbate 80, Benzalkonium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, Parfum, Citric Acid, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Sodium Hydroxide
Even those antibacterial baby backside or mouth wipes, make-up facial wipes contain parabens.
Water, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, Methylparaben, Sodium Citrate, Propylparaben
It's one thing to wipe your mouth with these, to clean your butt with these, but another to sniff deeply through these I think?
It's safest to use Tea Towel as the threadcount is high. Tea Towel is supposedly 3rd best in terms of filtration of microparticles after Vacuum Bags. I don't know what fabric those volunteers used to sew free masks for the MWs. Look like those cloths used for making babies' husk pillows.
MWs do wear masks during their working hours. Their employers are bound by WSH guidelines to provide them with masks. But on weekends in Little India, and in the dorms, they do not wear masks as they do not have. They have a lot of hand sanitizers given by the NGOs only.
those listed are no good chemicals? I checked mine has 2 chemicals listed above..sodium benzoate and citric acid.. and I was planning to get thicker wipes
thanks on the info of tea towel! -
.zeit\" post_id=\"1970934\" time=\"1586655782\" user_id=\"171271:
Only BMT is suspended. So the rest still needs to go back to their baracks.
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3. Empty out army barracks to house the workers. Our national servicemen all have homes to go back to, so they won’t be much inconvenienced.
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Do we have less tycoons than Hong Kong? Or, are they less generous than the the tycoons in HK? A HK conglomerate will have vending machines to distribute free masks to 40,000 people in low-income communities on top of setting up 4 production lines of free masks.
https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/new-world-adrian-cheng-donates-masks-coronavirus-1203557153/ -
Coolkidsrock2\" post_id=\"1970928\" time=\"1586652787\" user_id=\"48901:
That happens to me too. I am the kind who sweats easily, even when not moving about. Breathless - it should get better as you get used to it, or it could be that your mask is too thick. Also, a mask that has an absorbent inner layer may be more comfortable. I only use double-layer cloth masks without any additional filters etc, if not, it's too hot and difficult to breathe. I understand that this is not as effective, but I reckon that any additional protection is better than none. Physical distancing and handwashing is still the best protection, so I avoid busy places and periods, and stay away from others as much as I can.
Should not be. I wear it for about 12 hours daily and am fine. A bit more difficult to breathe initially when wearing 3 ply relative to 2 ply, have gotten used to it now.starlight1968sg\" post_id=\"1970899\" time=\"1586613451\" user_id=\"14025:
When I put on a mask, I am like breathless. When I remove the mask, the area of my face earlier covered by the mask is moist with sweat. Is this normal?
Alternatively, change to another brand or different source country. I have masks from different brands and countries. Some are actually quite rough so it feels scratchy. -
MrsKiasu\" post_id=\"1970903\" time=\"1586613722\" user_id=\"43981:
Be careful - after using a mask, the outside is potentially contaminated if it has been in contact with infected droplets, and the inside could be contaminated if you yourself are infected. So if you touch either side, you risk spreading the virus (if it's there). Depending on which side you feel is more likely to be contaminated, fold that side inwards when keeping the mask for future use.
when outside walking I take off, only when inside building when many people around I put on. -
I wear surgical masks for work, since am going to be wearing for long. I also spray the air and area around me with sanitiser 2-3 times daily. Was hunting for a desk-top air sanitiser but decided not enough space on my desk. WFH now, no longer needed.
Only wear the cloth mask when the anticipated wear is short.
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