> You are ignorant because you assume US tests and masks are vastly superior to Chinese tests and masks for this application.

Nope. That is not what I said at all. Not even close.

Stop making up stuff that someone never said.

What I said, very clearly, is that the difference is in TRACEABILITY and, not directly but implied, adherence to REAL SPECIFICATIONS, PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY.

The Chinese are FAMOUS for taking shortcuts, faking regulatory testing, ignoring safety in designs, having contaminated and less-than-ideal work and manufacturing environments, etc.

The only way you make things in China and don't get shafted in a big way is if you supervise the heck out of them. Yes, there are large reputable manufacturers, and most of them are the result of years of this kind of supervision and process improvement by the likes of Apple. Sadly, unless you operating at that scale, most companies making product in China do not necessarily have the same assurances an Apple, HP or <insert major brand> might have.

In fact, the quality problem is so serious that there's a whole industry of factory inspection companies who's job is to go to the factory making your product to inspect the product you ordered before it ships. Let me say that again, you hire outside inspectors to go into the factory and inspect and test your product before it ships in order to ensure you don't get shafted.

Think about that for a moment. In the US and Europe it is UNTHINKABLE to have to hire a third party to go and inspect product we produce. We provide specifications and test criteria and then expect and trust our contract manufacturer will deliver what we ordered. In China you do that at your peril.

The people who are reacting negatively to my comments are doing so while completely devoid of experience and an understanding of the realities in China. You can't know this by buying an iPhone and sitting behind your screen reading HN. Those who know and understand China know exactly what I am talking about. Are there great factories and contract manufacturers in China? Absolutely! Do you still have to go there and supervise the work? Absolutely!

So, please, pretty please, don't call someone ignorant when you don't really understand what you are talking about. I am just sick of this culture where insults are a replacement for taking the time to learn something and understand.

> Masks, even perfect ones barely do anything for something that infectious and tests are more for statistics to inform high level decision making than anything else.

Irrelevant nonsense.

> Staying away from people is the only thing that measurably does anything.

No. So does washing your hands, not touching your face, cleaning/disinfecting the work environment, etc. It isn't the "only" thing, it's one of many things.

And yet, it is completely irrelevant and has nothing to do with my proposal that, at the end of the day, a bunch of free masks and kits with no traceability and quality control are a terrible idea and not a gift we should accept or use in any way.

Here's a hypothetical scenario for you:

You have two rooms. Each with 24 people. All of them have absolutely confirmed COVID-19 infection. You are allowed to wear gloves and a mask. Your job is to check their vital signs and do a general checkup. You have to touch them. You have to interact with them. You have to get close to them. You might have to take their masks off for some tests.

You get to choose from two options:

Room 1: Everyone, including yourself, is wearing US-made masks made by 3M that are traceable and are tested to be within 3M and government specifications.

Room 2: Everyone, including yourself, is wearing Chinese-made masks given as gifts by some dude. We have not traceability information and they say they were tested according to US standards but nobody can tell us where they were made (which factory), who tested them and who supervised and confirmed the testing and manufacturing.

Which room do you go into?

Right.