And I don't mean this in an abstract way. There are numerous places accepting mask donations right now. If you have a mask, you should donate it. Stat.
History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes
There are professionals willing to jump into the water to try and patch the hull so it sinks more slowly, giving everyone time to get airlifted off by helicopter. Unfortunately, they're drowning while attempting the repairs because they're not wearing proper scuba diving gear. Meanwhile, normals are keeping the gear for themselves in the hope it might be easier to swim to safety once the ship goes under.
This isn't a very good analogy—but I hope my point comes through. It's not every person for themselves. We need to help the people trying to help everyone.
Personally, given the vastly greater risk of exposure for them, I don't think it's a zero-sum game at all, which is precisely why all available supplies should go to them first.
So make 10 masks, donate 9, and keep the 10th for yourself.
If for some reason I had to spend a lot of time in close proximity to other people, that might merit a homemade mask, but otherwise I think I'd be doing a far better job protecting both of us and everyone else we interact with (in the process of obtaining food and essential supplies) by giving it to my wife before she heads out for her next shift at the hospital.
^[1] https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/sars-cov-2-viral-load-and-the-...
Remember—your job is to stay six feet away from everyone else, on the off chance they might have the Coranavirus. Doctors and nurses are getting up close with people they know for sure have the Coronavirus, all day, every day.
But more importantly, the masks are disposable! It's not like you can keep one and use it indefinitely.
> if everyone does this, there's 10% fewer masks for doctors than there'd be otherwise
Right, but the point is to make as many as possible, hopefully with a better ratio.
It's also possible—likely, even—that the severity of the disease in an individual is correlated with the magnitude of the initial infectious dose, and healthcare workers without effective PPE are going to be most at risk for high doses, which will act as a multiplier on the benefits of PPE usage for them. In the analogy, one might compare this to the chance that a stray, tumbling bullet fired in a high arc by the enemy will hit you while you're trying to buy groceries, vs. the chance that a soldier on the front lines will be lethally wounded by a deliberate shot. Who needs the vest more?
As noted here^[1], this is all very much up in the air, but the more I think about it, the more my brain rejects the marginal benefit argument as an illusion. Healthcare workers are on the front lines, and by most accounts it's their labors that'll cut the mortality rate from 10+% to ~1-5%. They need all the help they can get, and the rest of us need them to stay healthy and able to do their jobs.
^[1] https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/sars-cov-2-viral-load-and-the-...