美国国家公共电台 NPR NFL Logo Masks But Still Not Enough PPE For Health Workers

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NFL Logo Masks But Still Not Enough PPE For Health Workers

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

As I read news reports this week that health care workers in several states said they don't have enough protective gear, including face masks, an email pinged in. Put on your game face, it said. A sports merchandise site now sells face masks in the colors and logos of NFL teams. Let me just note that some masks look more appealing than others. The dancing Miami Dolphin could make you look like a bear with a fish in its mouth.

The website cautions that the team masks are, quote, "a fashion face covering not intended to be personal protective equipment." Proceeds from all sales will be donated to the CDC Foundation, supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But you might wonder, weeks and weeks into this pandemic, how can health care workers still lack enough protective masks while masks for all 32 NFL teams are being sold as fashion items? Justin Wolfers, an economist¹ at the Gerald R. Ford² School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, told us the difference between the N95 masks used in hospitals and the football team masks is akin³ to the difference between real gems⁴ and costume jewelry⁵. The N95 respirator, when fit closely, is designed to block at least 95% of microscopic⁶ airborne particles. Of the football team masks, Professor Wolfers says, my understanding is that they're somewhat effective at preventing the wearer's germs from being sneezed out all over the place, but they don't provide much protection to the wearer from germs that others may have sprayed their way. In football terms, the NFL masks might be good defense⁷, but offensive germs can still break through.

Justin Wolfers explains that the masks are produced by different supply lines. Medical manufacturers are stretched thin in this pandemic and find it hard to keep up with demand. But the apparel industry is shedding jobs and needs new work now. So while fashion masks roll out quickly, medical masks can be delayed.

You could tell the story of American ingenuity⁸, opening up new forms of production as needed, Professor Wolfers told us. I was thinking more the opposite, though - how difficult it can be to get an economy to shift overnight, especially given that we've needed these masks for quite a while.

As a Bears fan, I haven't decided⁹ whether to buy a logo mask. Even if they're limited as protective gear, they're certainly a telling memento¹⁰ of these times.

(SOUNDBITE OF FLEETWOOD MAC SONG, "BEHIND THE MASK")