Want to Buy a Scrunchie Mask? Great. But Forget About That N95
upstart writes in with an IRC submission:
Want to Buy a Scrunchie Mask? Great. But Forget About That N95.:
It was the ad on Facebook - for a mask that doubles as a hair scrunchie - that pushed Dan Castle to despair.
His company, CastleGrade, makes a reusable, high-filtration face mask that has been popular among dentists, teachers and those who work in proximity to others - and willing to pay $44.99.
But he has been unable to sell his wares on Facebook since August, when the company abruptly blocked his ads, citing a policy aimed at ensuring medical-grade masks are reserved for health care workers. Since then, he said, sales have plummeted to $5,000 a day from $40,000. And yet, he sees ads for nonmedical grade masks all of the time.
[...] Mr. Castle's experiences with Facebook echoed those of other small mask producers who have recently began making N95s and other medical grade masks. Largely shut out by hospital networks, they had hoped to sell their high-filtration products online, where Americans do much of their shopping. But the tech giants have not made it easy, even as scientists have urged people to upgrade their face coverings to those that can block the tiny pathogens that cause infection.
Google and Facebook ban the sale of medical-grade masks, and Amazon limits their availability to shoppers - policies born during the early months of the pandemic, when hospitals were scrambling to obtain protective gear.
But some public health experts and mask manufacturers say these rules are outdated, especially given the spread of more infectious coronavirus variants and the abundance of domestically made masks that are gathering dust in warehouses across the country. The restrictions, they say, may hinder the country's ability to limit new infections in the months before vaccinations become more widely available.
Where do you get your masks? How did you learn of the provider?
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