The Approaching Mask Shortage

There's a decent article that ARD (public TV, Channel One) produced on the virus masks being used by nurses around Germany.

The jest of the discussion is that the FFP-3 type masks (which most all nurses are now wearing) are in short supply.

The mask is made under the intended purpose of one-time use only.  I emphasize....this was the guidance given down by the RKI (Robert Koch Institute) and has been the normal guidance for years. 

Well....there just aren't that many masks existing.  So the new guidance is that you would re-use the mask. 

I should note the normal price for the FFP-3 mask....it's normally in the 39 to 50 cent range, depending on who made it and the middle-guy 'profits'.  So it's not an expensive item.

But the story here.....is that there just aren't that many masks being produced and the RKI guys have come to realize that part of the 'bottleneck'.

Anger brewing?  Well, among nurses, yes.  They don't see the hygiene requirements being met, if you used the same mask over an entire morning while dealing with 25 different patients.

The catch here.....if you read the whole article by ARD.....in a couple of weeks, a shortage will be obvious, and they won't be able to meet the demand.  So if you think re-using masks are bad idea.....go suggest going an entire day or entire week....with the same mask.

An issue for April?  One might go and see things being fairly chaotic by the end of April as the shortage is explained and a bulk-producer (within Germany) cannot be found.