Gates’ Foundation has been a major funder and a leader in the response to global epidemics for years, most notably Ebola. Now they are working on COVID-19. What is less well known is the fact that Bill Gates did a TED talk warning of the danger of just the sort of pandemic we now face. Here are both talks.

And his warning of March 2015 …

Our government did not see this disaster coming and defunded and downsized the departments that were responsible for ensuring preparedness. These talks demonstrate that those responsible could have known and should have been ready. Failure is always an orphan.

Trevor Noah interviews Gates on fighting the pandemic.

Are we so immersed in our throw-away culture that we have forgotten how to reuse scarce items? As the COVID-19 pandemic exhausts supplies of basic protective gear some workers are going without masks and protective gear because all that’s available is disposable. But that may not be necessary.

An ordinary clothes dryer set on high should be hot enough to destroy viruses on contaminated clothing. An infra-red thermometer would allow you to check the temperature inside the dryer. Before relying on this, get an expert opinion. That said, wouldn’t it be better to use the dryer than to simply re-use potentially contaminated gear or go without?

An ordinary pressure cooker develops 10 to 15psi steam at 240 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Objects suspended in a wire basket or colander would be steamed at this temperature.

Stanford has tested various methods for sanitizing disposable masks for reuse. They don’t recommend any method, possibly for liability reasons. They have determined that steam sterilization destroys the effectiveness of N-95 masks.

These may not be as helpful as one would think, mainly because they require the proper donning and disposal procedure to be effective.

Gloves

Remember that the virus needs to reach your mucus membrane (eyes, nose, or mouth) to infect you and replicate. If you touch your face with contaminated gloves they accomplish nothing. So you’d have to change gloves often, or wash them, to get the protection.

Contaminated gloves will also transfer virus to other surfaces, just as touching with contaminated hands would.

For these reasons, gloves are not recommended for protection when shopping or other everyday activities. Clinical use by professionals is a very different matter and they are trained to use them properly.

If you decide to use rubberized kitchen gloves when cleaning and sanitizing, be sure to sanitize the gloves before removing them.

Masks

When worn by an infected person, masks help to contain the tiny droplets of virus-laden fluid exhaled while breathing, sneezing, or coughing. When worn by a caregiver they afford some protection against inhaling these droplets. Either use causes one surface of the mask to become contaminated. For this reason, use of a mask requires care in handling to avoid spreading the virus. Healthcare professionals know the drill.

Since the masks are disposable and in short supply for the healthcare workers whose safety depends on using them, non-caregivers are discouraged from buying and using them.

Some websites offer instructions for sewing masks from scraps of fabric. Reuse of a mask requires sterilization. I imagine you could steam a mask, or dry it in a clothes dryer, or wash it, to sanitize it for reuse. But I don’t know how you verify that it still works like new. In the end you are left wondering if you should rely upon a mask for protection, or simply practice social distancing and hygiene to protect yourself and others.

Probably the most common sanitizing solution is one tablespoon of regular strength bleach (unscented) in one gallon of warm to hot water (70 to 110 degrees). This solution degrades over 24 hours and should be made fresh for each use.

This is my take on the attitudes and actions that are prudent now and for the coming months of widespread contagion. First, adhere to the guidelines of the CDC.

Here is an excellent overview by Johns Hopkins…

In my original post under this title, I may have been guilty of contributing to the “Epidemic of Armchair Epidemiology” described in the article linked below.

Please, Let’s Stop the Epidemic of Armchair Epidemiology

Ignore the people misconstruing their expertise and offering false certainty.

[Original Post is below]

I’m posting the following links with a caveat: it’s opinion, it’s the author’s viewpoint. Although it appears that the author has done his homework, the article was published in Medium, which is an open forum not subject to editorial scrutiny and vetting. It’s not peer-reviewed science and may not stand up to rigorous scrutiny. When you open the article you will see this statement: “Anyone can publish on Medium per our Policies, but we don’t fact-check every story. For more info about the coronavirus, see cdc.gov.”