As soon as I read that link title, Jay, the engineer in me wanted to compare virus droplet size with respirator specs.
Here's a paper that contains a lot of good info on both respirators and surgical masks.
The take aways from this article for me were:
Surgical masks provide the wearer protection against splashes, but not against vapors in the range that are thought to be present in CoVid-19 transmission.
Respirators are rated by the percentage of particles they capture. So an N95 respirator captures 95% of the particles it encounters over the size range in which it was designed to work. The current test standards for that particle size seem start at 0.1 um, which covers the sizes most associated with CoVid-19 transmission. In my mind, though, I wouldn't be too comfortable with still breathing in 5% of the droplets containing CoVid-19 size vapors.
There are respirators rated at N100, but they seem to be the cartridge style that many of us use for applying paint and various garden and pest sprays. Now I'm thinking of following Jay's lead and wearing one of those on my next trip to town. Though I've already had problems making myself understood while wearing an N95 particle mask, and the full blown respirator may have me resorting to hand signals. So I would ask Jay to comment on his ability to communicate during his recent travels.
On a related note, my recent explorations at both Amazon and McMaster-Carr indicate that if you haven't already purchased such PPI, you're not likely to find it available in stores, and even if you do, you may be asked to demonstrate a medical or professional need for it.
Finally, Kyle has already pointed out that a temperature of 170F (medium rare for us steak lovers) is high enough to kill most pathogens, including CoVid-19. Placing a mask or respirator in a slow oven for long enough for it to come to that temperature and holding it for at least 20 seconds should suffice. You could also just leave it in the car with the windows rolled up, which wouldn't get to 170F, but the sunlight and dry air would presumably kill the virus after a few days. That's the method I've been using.
:2cents: