At the beginning of the pandemic there was a massive mask shortage. We still don’t have enough US-spec masks, but production of Chinese-spec (KN95) masks has ramped up enormously. These are much better than cloth masks, and any time someone in our household goes inside (work, medical appointments, etc) we wear one.
The message that these masks are available and reasonably cheap (ex: 50 at $1.50/each, shipped) seems to be spreading slowly and unevenly through society. If someone vulnerable you care about is still wearing cloth masks to go into buildings, you might consider sending them a box. For example, Julia and I both sent boxes to our parents: we checked in with them about what they had been wearing, told them about how it was now possible to get higher quality masks, and asked if it would be ok if we sent some.
You can spread a message by talking, but that’s not the only way.
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Ordered for my family as a direct results of reading this post—thank you!
You can even send them actual N95s https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/kdkFnRnZv4ut5qGhR/?commentId=RaLK7uGHynTdny6Zf#RaLK7uGHynTdny6Zf