Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

[glatt]

I'm wondering now. I think this is fake news. I think the "CNN" email I got was an anti-phishing test being done by my employer.

There is one guy on staff who is supposed to trick us by sending us fake emails and getting us to click on links. If we fail the tests, we have to undergo additional training.

This email is from... Wait. I don't want to paste the text because they can search for it and find me on the Cellar.

Here's a screenshot :


I can't find the email address on the web. And I can't find any story on the web about an infection in my town.

The headline misspells "it's" by putting the apostrophe where it doesn't belong, making it "it is" instead of "its." That's the only giveaway that this email is fake, plus I never signed up for CNN.

Sorry for the distraction. If this is a test, it's in very poor taste.

[tw]

Testing for the virus means identifying a possible victim, getting a test kit (which is not easily obtained), sending it to Atlanta (that is a day and a half at least), 24 hours to do that test, and only then are results known.

For example, one possible Covid-19 infected person in Northern Virginia was still awaiting results as of yesterday. A person is infected for three days before doctors can even say he is infected.

Pennsylvania is spending a quarter $million to setup just one testing lab only outside Philadelphia. Now that the CDC was permitted to address the threat and finally had a testing solution. A threat that was obvious two months ago - when it was being ignored at the highest levels of government (we know who that was).

Is someone from your neighborhood infected? Could be. As of yesterday, they were still awaiting many days for the only lab (Atlanta) to do testing. One day just to get that test kit to the lab - if expedited. Because we ignored the threat two months ago.

Since he is still awaiting results, some will immediately conclude he is already infected because he was quarantined.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by glatt

--snip

If this is a test, it's in very poor taste.

If it's a test, it may well be in very poor taste. I'm not willing or able to judge the standards at your company.

However, if it's a test, it's an excellent example. The major impetus the bad guys are trying activate to is a sense of urgency. They want to stampede you into clicking on something. I've seen it happen. I've been stampeded by the bad guys myself. This is the perfect bait for such a trap.

[Luce]

Originally Posted by glatt

There is one guy on staff who is supposed to trick us by sending us fake emails and getting us to click on links. If we fail the tests, we have to undergo additional training.

He's literally paid to be a F*ckedCompany troll.

That's living the damn dream, that's what that is.

[Griff]

Pete's company does this. I think the IT department does a giveaway, like dinner or something, to one of the people who reports the suspicious activity.

[glatt]

Memo just came down from the top. Apparently some powerful people in the firm were not amused.



The memo went on to talk about the Coronavirus and told us to wash our hands, don't travel to China or Italy for spring break, and stay home if we are sick. Lots of other details, but that's the gist of it.

I need to brush up on remote computing. It's a little convoluted.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by glatt

… The memo went on to talk about the Coronavirus ...

Did it say if the Chinese have patented it?

[xoxoxoBruce]

From OSHA

Purpose or Intended Use

Surgical masks
• May include masks labeled as surgical, laser, isolation, dental, or medical procedure masks
• Are primarily intended to protect the patient, not the wearer, from the wearer's saliva and respiratory secretions
• May also help protect the wearer against exposure to microorganisms, body fluids, and large particles in the air but are not tight fitting and likely have substantial inward leakage for particles and organisms
• Are designed to cover the mouth and nose loosely but are not sized for individual fit
• Are not NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) approved

Surgical N95 respirators
• Surgical N95 respirators are designed to reduce but cannot eliminate the wearer’s exposure to airborne biological contaminants. They do not eliminate the risk of illness, disease, or death.
• Form a tight seal over the mouth and nose.
• Require fit-testing and must be adjusted to your face to provide the intended effectiveness of filtering 95 percent of particles with a mass median diameter of 0.3 micrometers.
• Employers and users are required to follow the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard, 29CFR 1910.134, as well as other state or local regulations, as appropriate.
• Have specific use instructions, warnings, and limitations for use in health care environments.
• Are NIOSH certified.
• Are fluid resistant to a certified level measured against a stream of artificial blood directed at the respirator.

Industrial N95 respirators
• Are designed to reduce but cannot eliminate the wearer's exposure against certain airborne particles and aerosols free of oil.
• Form a tight seal over the mouth and nose.
• Employers and users are required to follow the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard, 29CFR 1910.134, as well as other state or local regulations, as appropriate.
• These respirators (without valves) also can help prevent exhalation of contamination by the wearer to others in the work environment.
• Require fit-testing and must be adjusted to your face to provide the intended effectiveness of filtering 95 percent of particles with mass median diameter of 0.3 micrometers.
• Have specific use instructions, warnings, and limitations for use in industrial environments.
• Are NIOSH certified.
• Are not certified to be fluid resistant.

Approval and Certification

Surgical masks
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clears surgical masks for sale in the United States. FDA does not test and certify the respirator. Instead, they clear the respirator for sale after reviewing the manufacturer's test data and proposed claims. The manufacturer performs and submits the results from several tests, including particle filtration efficiency, bacterial filter efficiency, fluid resistance, etc.
The particulate filter efficiency gives an indication of the quality of the health care surgical mask. However, this rating is completely different and far less rigorous than the NIOSH N95 filter efficiency rating and should not be used as a comparison between the two.

Surgical N95 respirators
Surgical N95 respirators are approved by NIOSH as to their respiratory protection efficiency and resistance and other NIOSH requirements. They are also separately cleared by FDA as medical devices. FDA clears surgical masks for sale in the United States but does not test and certify the respirator. Instead, the agency clears the respirator for sale after reviewing the manufacturer's test data and proposed claims. The manufacturer performs and submits the results from several tests, including particle filtration efficiency, bacterial filter efficiency, fluid resistance, etc.
The biological filter efficiency gives an indication of the quality of the health care surgical mask. However, this rating is completely different and far less rigorous than the NIOSH filter efficiency rating and should not be used as a comparison between the two. Surgical N95 respirators and N95 industrial respirators share the same NIOSH requirements. NIOSH also has other efficiency certification levels for industrial respirators (see below).

Industrial respirators (including industrial N95 respirators) and Surgical N95 respirators
In the United States, NIOSH is responsible for testing and certifying respirators to be used in the workplace. NIOSH not only reviews the manufacturer's test data, but also performs its own independent tests on the respirators in NIOSH's governmental laboratories to verify the manufacturer's results. The tests include filter efficiency, degradation, and flow rate, to name a few. In addition to testing the respirators during the submittal process, NIOSH also will periodically purchase respirators in the field and test them to make sure the respirators are performing to their original certification.
Once the respirator is initially approved, NIOSH will certify its classification as N, R, or P and its filter efficiency as 95 percent, 99 percent, or 99.97 percent. It is also important to note that even though a respirator just by its use often helps to prevent the wearer from contaminating the environment; it cannot be considered a surgical mask unless it has been cleared by the FDA.

Surgical masks
The most important thing to remember about surgical masks is that they are not designed to pass a fit test. As explained above, their purpose is to help protect the environment and other nearby persons from the wearer's contaminants. When many surgical masks are worn, they will have gaps around the edges that allow many small particles to enter the respiratory system of the wearer. Even tighter-fitting surgical masks will have some gaps that allow small particles to enter the wearer’s respiratory system.

Surgical N95 and industrial N95 respirators
Respirators are designed to seal the respirator to the face and pass a fit test. Under Respiratory Protection Standard 29 CFR 1910.134, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires the wearer of a respirator to be fit tested before he or she can use the respirator in a contaminated environment. OSHA also requires the wearer to perform user seal checks on the respirator before each use, as well as comply with the other elements of a comprehensive respiratory protection program in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.134.
If the wearer is unable to obtain a proper fit, he or she must not enter the contaminated area. For more information on this standard, visit the OSHA website, www.osha.gov.
A properly fit-tested N95 respirator will greatly reduce the number of small particles that will enter the wearer’s respiratory system, as compared to a surgical mask that is not NIOSH approved. The extent of that reduction is a function of the fit of the mask, its filtration efficiency level (with respirators available from 95 percent to 99.97 percent filter efficiency), and the wearer’s proper donning and wearing of the respirator according to the training the employer provides as required by OSHA regulations.

Length of Wear

Surgical masks
While each facility has its own policy, surgical masks in general are discarded after each procedure. They are typically worn only for specific procedures.

Surgical N95 and industrial N95 respirators
Respirators must be put on and taken off in an area outside of the contaminated area. Putting a respirator on or taking it off even for a few seconds in a contaminated area can expose the wearer to significant levels of hazards. Each facility has its own policy on disposal of the respirator, depending on use conditions and the type of hazard that these products are being used to protect against.