Amazon should let us sell masks
From world.wng dot org: ( bolding mine )
Taiwan… has…23 million [people and] has only about 250 cases and two deaths as of Thursday [3/24/2020]
…Taiwan was prepared for COVID-19 because of its experience with SARS in 2003, when dozens of Taiwanese citizens died from the respiratory disease. Then-health minister Chen Chien-jen, a renowned epidemiologist, helped stop the spread of the virus by providing training to major medical centers on how to improve hospital infection protocol, reorganizing the nation’s Centers of Disease Control, and setting standards for quarantine. Chen is now the vice president of Taiwan.
A year after the outbreak, the government created the National Health Command Center (NHCC) to coordinate responses from authorities at all different levels in case of another epidemic. It allows medical experts to gather data and investigate potential new cases.
But perhaps most importantly, Taiwan saw how China initially covered up the SARS outbreak and realized it couldn’t trust the Chinese government to provide accurate information: “What we learned from SARS was that we need to be very skeptical with data from China,” Chan Chang-chuan, dean of National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health, told The Guardian. “We learned very harsh lessons then and that experience is something other countries don’t have.”
So when China first notified WHO about cases of an unknown pneumonia on Dec. 31, the NHCC went to work. Taiwan officials started boarding planes coming in from Wuhan to check passengers for fever or pneumonia symptoms before they could deplane, according to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Then on Jan. 5, they began to check anyone who had traveled to Wuhan for the past two weeks with a fever or upper respiratory infection, testing them for different viruses and quarantining those with symptoms.
Once China finally announced on Jan. 20 that the virus could be transmitted between people, Taiwan began to ban residents of Wuhan from entering the island just as the Chinese New Year holiday was beginning. The ban expanded to all of China in February and now includes all foreigners, except diplomats and those with residency in Taiwan.
Beyond travel bans, Taiwan combined data from its National Health Insurance (NHI) database and immigration and custom database so doctors could quickly see if patients had traveled in the past 14 days. It also used the NHI database to find patients with severe respiratory symptoms who had tested negative for influenza, then proactively tested them for COVID-19. They found 1 in 113 cases were from the novel coronavirus.
To keep citizens from panic-buying face masks, the government began a rationing system that allows each person to buy several masks a week from pharmacies (and now online), ordered 60 new production lines for masks, and banned the exportation of masks. Today Taiwan produces 10 million masks per day.
Public transportation in the Taiwanese capital:
SEAmod
Hello @rms
In order to ensure that scarce supplies of urgent medical equipment are available to healthcare professionals and first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are no longer permitting the sale of N95 and similar respirators in our consumer store. If you have a confirmed, certified supply of these respirators available, please go to the main COVID-19 storefront here: www.amazon.com/covid-19-supplies, and click the Contact Us link to fill out our seller eligibility form. We will be in touch to connect you directly to healthcare professionals and first responders.
If your product is not an N95 or similar respirator, remove any claims or reference to N95 or any similar standard from your product information and any associated images, and please apply for reinstatement through Selling Partner Support.
Susan
Seller_7Lx7qHpKTs3qo
You can sell whatever you want from your own created store on shopify. And, you might be able to price it whatever you want too. Why do you need Amazon?
Seller_ZDGgATBGegBqy
Slightly off-topic, but relevant, from Business Insider:
Federal agencies have a stockpile of 1.5 million expired N95 masks sitting in storage, despite reports of critical shortages at hospitals and medical centers treating coronavirus patients across the county.
N95 respirators are personal protective equipment used to shield the wearer’s face from airborne disease particles. The masks are primarily used by healthcare professionals treating the COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus, as well as by officials at the US Customs and Border Protection.
Experts have warned that the US faces a shortage of critical supplies, as the number of cases continues to grow. Doctors have started storing their single-use face masks in paper bags so they can reuse them, prompting ordinary people to donate face masks and other supplies to help medical staff facing shortages.
Five people with knowledge of the stockpile told The Washington Post that the surplus of masks is sitting in a CBP warehouse in Indiana.
Three unnamed sources told The Post that the masks are part of the CBP’s emergency supplies and that the Department of Homeland Security has decided to offer the supplies to the Transportation Security Administration.
Officials have chosen not to ship the masks out due to their expiration date, the outlet added.
…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for using expired masks in February, stating that masks that are past their manufacturer-designated shelf life are no longer certified by the CDC but can be considered for use in the event of an emergency, like COVID-19.According to the CDC, expired masks can still be effective if stored correctly.
…
Despite the demand for N95 masks in hospitals and for those on the front lines treating COVID-19, sources told The Post that CBP has no plans to offer the masks to hospitals or to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been working alongside the White House and other federal partners to provide resources to state and local governments.Representatives for FEMA did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
A spokesperson for the CBP declined to comment on when or where the masks would be shipped out.
Seller_Z6xPEdYa7XZxm
This policy by Amazon is a GOOD one.
Do you know how many thousands of unscrupulous hungry wolves from China are waiting to sell and list masks and gloves now? Who knows about the quality or safety certifications?!
Nearly EVERY Chinese supplier I have has sent me an offer to buy masks.
Seller_ujScHTwvcsrwf
think solar eclipse glasses…
Seller_ZDGgATBGegBqy
The consensus among experts abut the use of masks by healthy non-medical people seems to be shifting.
nytimes: us-coronavirus-face-masks
Moderator Edit (James_Amazon): External URL Removed
Seller_7Lx7qHpKTs3qo
Only amazon wants to sell the masks. Simmer down.
Seller_Yetu1UDLezNwb
I see good points but one overrides everything else…Amazon wants to protect itself from becoming the “gouge platform” in consumer’s eyes and any actions that help it avoid that reputation benefits all sellers here.
Hopefully other platforms can pick up the slack, for public safety’s sake, until Amazon finds a better solution though.
Seller_80vbZoULfhjeS
Lots of potential issues with this. In addition to the obvious health/legal issues Amazon isn’t able to handle the shipment volume they already have. Also, while masks provide some protection to healthy people in the general public mostly the key is having sick people and people dealing with them wearing masks.
Seller_LvikvLIShLw0U
Seller_LvikvLIShLw0U
Had my amazon account email…mmmmmmmm
