The 3-M Company is a major manufacturer of the highly sought after N95 face masks. Why it is called N95, what is it made of, how does the wearer still get sick, and many other questions.

The mask is composed of a mesh of plastic fibers blown together, not woven together. It is supposed to prevent any particle larger than 0.3 microns from going through it. Unfortunately the virus is half that size. That size will prevent droplets from a sneeze or from normal breathing from passing through it. The 95 means it is 95% effective.

It is designed to fit tight so the air the wearer inhales has to go through the mask, not around it. This causes the droplets to stay inside or outside as designed. However, 5% means one person in twenty could be infected or every twentieth breath allow the wearer to breath the virus in or out to others. Depending on that mask and goggles to keep healthy is gutsy and having to use the less effective cloth masks is purely insane.

3-M bought additional equipment to make the masks after the H1N1 virus and left it set up but unused waiting for another disaster. That is what pandemic planning is all about. It isn’t denying it is happening and blaming others who had been planning for it for several years.

3-M has gone from under 50 million masks to over 100 million a week in a few weeks to planning for a billion in the fall. They charge less than a dollar to distributers. Since Trump has reversed policy and told states to buy their own, New York recently had to out-bid other states to get emergency supplies and pay ten times 3-M’s price!