A guide to buying (or making) a face mask for COVID-19
Although cloth masks provide only minimal protection against the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses, the Centers for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) now recommend that everyone use them when leaving the house. The hope is that this low-risk, relatively simple intervention can make a dent within the spread of COVID-19 by individuals with no symptoms or extremely gentle ones.
But masks aren’t exactly straightforward to return by: Medical-grade ones are already in short supply for healthcare workers who want them, so healthy individuals shouldn’t even attempt to purchase them. And within the wake of the CDC’s new recommendations, even non-medical fabric masks are sold out or backordered in lots of on-line stores. If you happen to’re making an attempt to determine if and how it’s best to cover your face in your subsequent essential journey out of the house—for a walk on an uncrowded road or to buy vital groceries, as an example—right here’s a guide to all your options.
Things to look for and avoid when shopping for a material masks
A number of crafters and makers, as well as corporations that often sell other cloth products, are now offering non-medical masks for sale. But not all of those masks are created equal. In case you’re ordering protective equipment on-line, right here’s what to search for:
Do not purchase medical-grade, filtering masks unless you might be immunocompromised or are caring for someone sick with COVID-19. Hospitals are experiencing excessive shortages of these masks, and they don’t seem to be shown to provide significant protection for healthy individuals.
Your mask ought to cover your nose and mouth and may have fastenings that keep it firmly in place while you discuss, move, and breathe. If you have to touch your face to adjust your mask, you risk exposing your nose or mouth to germs.
Ideally, the mask ought to have some sort of adjustable band to attenuate gaps between your nose and your cheeks.
The simplest materials are water resistant and tightly-woven—not stretchy or sheer. A tightly-woven cotton is the following greatest thing, and your mask should have not less than two layers of it.
Your mask should be straightforward to sanitize by boiling or throwing in the washing machine. Which means it shouldn’t have material glues, delicate supplies, or funky decorations (aside from prints on the material). Gildings like sequins (sure, there are people selling sequined masks right now) provide surfaces that viral particles can linger on for days.
In the event you purchase a fashionable cover to go over your masks—some stores are selling glittery cloth covers and chainmail overlays, for instance—keep in mind that this outer layer is being exposed to viral particles. You have to remove it and sanitize it just like you would with the mask itself.
What a couple of balaclava or scarf?
Rachel Noble, a public health microbiologist at UNC at Chapel Hill, tells PopSci that balaclavas and different warm-weather gear designed to cover your nostril and mouth are unlikely to be suitable for stopping the spread of COVID-19. Because they’re designed to be as easy to breath by way of as potential, they are typically made of loose fabrics.
“You need to select a really, really tightly woven cloth,” Noble says. “We’re talking about something that’s approximately the density of the weave of a bandana, or a really high-high quality bedsheet.”
Jersey materials, towels, and any textiles that stretch once you pull them are doubtless too loose, she says, as are most sweaters and other knit yarns. So in case you really can’t sew or put together a masks with hair ties as described below, covering your nostril and mouth with a bandana tied around your face is probably slightly more effective and simpler to sanitize than a balaclava or wound-up scarf. But all of these workarounds are largely only useful in that they remind you not to touch your face and shield bystanders from the worst of your coughing and sneezing. If you’re coughing and sneezing, you need to really be staying inside.
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