By Jerri-Lynn Scofield, a former securities attorney and derivatives trader.She is currently writing a book about textile artisans.

Today, I want to talk about a simple, low-tech topic. mask.

Now, many people are dismissive of masks. period. They have their reasons – the least persuasive in my opinion is stupidity.

Others comply nominally – but make it clear by sporting the popular “chin diaper” – what they really think about masking ideas.

These are not my audience.

Instead, I’m targeting people who wear masks but don’t wear them properly. I noticed something on a round-trip flight from New York City to LAX in late December that I desperately wanted to postpone, but couldn’t. (In fact, if I could postpone that trip, I’d happily sign up for a root canal and colonoscopy on the same day.)

As I passed through Newark and LAX, I noticed that most of them were wearing inappropriate masks, cloth or surgical masks, and no badger stamp or equivalent. Even high-quality masks often look ill-fitting. Lax masking may have been enough to stop early COVID-19 strains, but did little to stop delta variants, let alone omicron. Not only did passengers wear substandard masks, but so did airline, airport and TSA staff.

Now, two years after the pandemic, how is this still the case? Why is the mask status still so bad?

Instead of wrestling with these issues, I started thinking about how I would have done things differently if I had been the mask czar of the federal government or some state health authority. How about setting up a mask station at the airport? Or other high-traffic public gathering places?

At these sites, health officials can distribute genuine, non-counterfeit, effective masks—N95s, KN95s, or whatever else may come—for free. Meanwhile, health officials can demonstrate how to properly wear and wear a mask. These measures may alleviate the epidemic to some extent. But it will require politicians and health officials to come forward and strongly support effective mask wearing – a game where we are neither really involved but use the ability not to wear a mask as a privilege to agree to vaccinations – we Everyone knows how well this method works.

Alas, ensuring effective masking isn’t as sexy or lucrative as rolling out a new vaccine or drug. It turns out that neither is a panacea. This is just another reason why covid-19 infections continue to develop rapidly.

sympathy for the teacher

Another obvious place to distribute masks and educate people on the proper use and wearing of masks is in schools.So it is with anger and consternation that I here highlight a story in the Boston Globe this week that discussed the chaos caused by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency’s distribution of free masks to teachers (see ‘It turned out to be a fiasco’: Mask controversy eroded mass educators’ confidence in state). The aim is to distribute 30 masks per teacher – intended for a six-week supply.

Schools are hotspots for the spread of the coronavirus. Ensuring effective sheltering — and improving ventilation — can alleviate this problem to some extent. Children get sick and they bring the virus home, where it can infect their parents, grandparents and other family members.

Teachers are on the front lines of this battle. Wearing masks not only protects them and limits the spread of the new coronavirus, it also allows at least some teachers to provide their students with an example of how masks should be worn.

within the globe:

Educators in Massachusetts — already stressed by a record surge in COVID-19 cases — learned this week that the state’s distribution of masks is a less protective, non-medical version of the high-quality KN95 masks they use version when disappointment and frustration are promised. Thousands received in 2020 lost FDA approval.

As the chaotic week of schools returning to school ends Friday, state leaders still haven’t explained how low-quality masks got into circulation, or how much they’re spending on them: phone calls and e-mails to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Mail provided the masks were not returned this week, and a spokesman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and Gov. Charlie Baker did not answer reporters’ questions.

The distribution of masks “turned out to be a fiasco,” said Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Superintendents. “Bad information was given to districts. The difficulty is that we all rely on data from state governments. We are not experts on masks or vaccines. … The masks certainly didn’t work as expected.”

The state plans to distribute nearly 4.5 million masks to schools last month, according to a planning document provided to The Globe. It is unclear how many of the masks distributed were less protective masks labeled “non-medical” or how many districts received them.

Masking isn’t the only covid fiasco the Commonwealth has committed against its teachers Per the Globe:

Educators’ trust, already undermined, was further tested by another distribution failure: The state also sent some 3,000 expired COVID-19 test kits to some schools. State education leaders first denied that they sent expired tests, but later said the manufacturer had extended the date they could be used, despite nothing on the packaging to let educators know.

Chaos comes when schools are already in trouble: Across the state, schools see astonishing 39,000 cases among students There were 12,000 employees this week, four times the number reported before the holiday.

Teachers deserve better. Hell, any Massachusetts resident deserves better. Bernie Sanders continues his call for N95 masks to be distributed to everyone in America. How is the effort going?

But teachers are especially important to me, the daughter of two public school teachers. My dad’s two brothers, an aunt, a sister, and a cousin were—or were—public school teachers.

Let me take a moment here to tell you how dedicated my dad is to the students at Sussex Vocational Technical School. I’m the eldest of five children and I’m usually lucky to have my own bedroom – but not always my other sisters. However, when I was in high school, my father pulled me aside every once in a while and said, “Man, I need you to do something for me.” What was that? A little sleep with one of my sisters so that one of my dad’s no-where students can stay in our house until some crises in that student’s life are resolved. I closed my eyes and could see two of their faces – one named Danny and the other Don. These visits are sometimes extended for several weeks. I never resented my dad for letting me give up the bedroom because I believed it would be necessary if he asked me to. My parents set an example of helping those in need. They never had to explain what they were doing, but set an example of how to behave.

When I read The Globe and Mail, I think of my father. I’m not sure many contemporary teachers will invite their students to live with them — especially during a pandemic. To be sure, even in the 1970s, Dad’s dedication was unusual. But just by showing up at work during these perilous times – teachers are showing courage and dedication. Especially since many schools are undoubtedly far from safe and lack ventilation.

Massachusetts can’t even fulfill the simple promise of distributing high-quality masks to teachers. The Commonwealth has formed in its failure to protect its public officials. According to the World Wide Web report:

In an effort to protect public officials from COVID-19, the fight isn’t the first time the fight has come to the state: In April 2020, at the start of the pandemic, officials were slapped with embarrassed by a similar mess After sending an unspecified number of minimum protective masks to public safety personnel.

Those 2020 mask deliveries — made after New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft sent a team plane to retrieve scarce supplies from China — cheers at first as victory. But then came the issue of the state’s protocols for acquiring and testing protective equipment.

Nearly two years into the ongoing public health crisis, the same issues plagued the state again this week.

It appears that the masks distributed to schools last month may also have been purchased in 2020.The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency received two shipments of non-medical KN95 protective masks from Fujian Pageone Garments Co., Ltd. The Chinese manufacturer just sent masks to schools – according to July 16, 2020 and July 2020 29th via container ship Import records.

No matter how well-intended, the promise to distribute quality masks has fallen far short of what teachers deserve. To Universal:

But it didn’t take long for questions to be raised about the soft white masks, which were sent in packs of five with “non-medical” emblazoned on the front.

Asked about the effectiveness of the masks at a Monday morning news conference at Salem Elementary School, Baker said the masks had been tested at MIT and found to filter out 85 percent of contaminants.

Soon the state was forced to back down, as The Globe reported:

Wednesday, [the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE0] A message was sent to the school saying “an update from MEMA today that some of the masks in distribution, those labeled ‘non-medical’, have not been tested at MIT as previously thought.”

Still, the state wrote that “all masks distributed … still work,” a claim heavily criticized by educators who conducted their own research and found problems with Fujian Paiwang’s production of KN95 masks tested by the CDC and found to be less than 50% effective and released from June 2020 FDA list Licensed model.

Massachusetts teachers are not fooled. According to Global:

As outrage grew, the Massachusetts Teachers Association on Wednesday called on agencies other than DESE to take over the management of COVID-19 protections in schools. “The governor has put public relations ahead of public health,” said MTA President Merrie Najimy. “They either lied intentionally or displayed gross incompetence.”

Someone please explain to me how these things continue to happen? Why can’t Massachusetts — a state that prides itself on its world-class educational institutions — come together to ensure elementary and secondary school teachers wear appropriate masks two years after the outbreak?

May I ask how is this going?

Which headers need to be scrolled?

Is no one responsible?

The current situation is this:

A statement from DESE on Thursday also did not explain how less-protective non-medical masks — with a filtration efficiency of between 25 and 46 percent compared to the 95 percent gold standard — made their way into schools. Instead, it underscores the importance of classroom safety and face-to-face learning.

In this case, how can teachers be asked to come to work?

When the country doesn’t even bother to find every teacher effective mask?

reader?