Ross: When ‘nobody showed interest’ in better protective masks

Doctors are desperate for surgical masks in the midst of the nation’s ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

“These masks are meant for one-time use,” said Dr. Lisa Dabby on CNN. “They’re meant to be put on your face, protect you from one patient, and thrown away immediately.”

And yet there is a technology that could fix this.

Canadian engineering professor Hyo-Jick Choi, and his colleagues, designed a surgical mask that doesn’t just trap the virus, but kills it, so the mask can be used again and again. It was expressly designed in the wake of the SARS epidemic to be better prepared for the next one.

The secret is a special filtering layer treated with inexpensive salt crystals that sabotage the virus.

But as he told me, “nobody showed any interest.”

Manufacturers had no interest!

“I had a meeting with the global manufacturers — they just wanted cheaper material,” said Choi.

“Just so I understand this, they designed the mask to be cheap and to be comfortable, not functional?” I asked.

“Yes, exactly,” he answered.

Well, we see how that worked out.

And yet even now, no one seems to be in a rush to mass produce it.

Which tells me this is a job for the Billionaire Superfriends, composed of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, and Elon Musk. Pretend it’s a space program. Pretend you’re designing a re-usable self-landing booster rocket.

You guys could probably get this re-useable mask to market — and have it land itself at every hospital that needs them. Check out the research here and see for yourself.

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