The COVID-19 pandemic presents enormous challenges. A newly emerged virus to which the world’s inhabitants has no immunity, coupled with the rapid movement of individuals throughout the globe, has set the stage for an outbreak of proparts not seen within the last century.
For infection with this virus to occur, it must come into contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth. This happens when droplets produced by an infected individual (by way of talking, coughing or sneezing), land on the face of another person. These infectious droplets can travel as much as 6 feet, which is the reason to promote social distancing. Touching a surface that’s contaminated with infectious droplets and then touching one’s own eyes, nose or mouth, is one other way for infection to occur. Subsequently, the key to avoiding an infection is to have these areas of the face covered.
In hospitals, face masks and goggles are typically used to stop publicity to infectious droplets. However, face mask shortages are occurring because of interruptions in the provide chain, which is deeply rooted in China and disrupted by the pandemic. Some health care workers have been forced to resort to scarves and bandannas in a final-ditch attempt to protect themselves while providing care. Even when plentiful, face masks will not be without problems. As soon as they turn into wet from the humidity in exhaled air, they lose effectiveness. In addition, some people touch their face more often to adjust the masks, which will increase the risk of infection if the arms are contaminated.
Cloth masks, although better than nothing, have been shown to be less protective than medical-grade face masks.
We imagine that face shields provide a greater solution. There are various types, but all use clear plastic material connected to a headpiece to cover the eyes, nostril and mouth, thereby stopping infectious droplets from contacting these areas the place the virus can enter the body. They cover more of the face than masks and forestall the wearer from touching their face. Importantly, face shields are durable, can be cleaned after use, reused repeatedly, and for many people are more comfortable than face masks. Because these shields are reusable and are diversified throughout the provision chains of a number of industries, the present supply is less limited than for face masks. They’ll even be made at residence with items from office supply and craft stores.
Every health care worker wants a face shield for protection at work. While face masks are still wanted in some situations, implementation of face shields will significantly reduce the necessity for face masks and prolong the limited national supply of masks. Engineers have produced designs for face shields which are in the public domain, and fabrication at scale is comparatively simple. To ensure that each health care worker has a face shield, production might want to ramp as much as meet the demand by current producers and recruitment of additional factories. Because the design is easy, massive speedy production would not be difficult.
As soon as the health care workforce is equipped, distribution to the general public should begin, with a goal to provide a face shield to each individual in the country. It needs to be worn anytime a person leaves their home, while in any public place, and even at work. Although shelter-at-house approaches are wanted to “bend the curve” of this pandemic, the following societal disruption limits the time that political leaders are prepared to maintain such measures. As soon as each individual is shielded, nevertheless, reducing restrictions on movement would carry less risk. Common shielding might reduce reliance on social distancing since infectious droplets can not attain the face of inclined individuals. Handwashing, however, would remain essential to keep people from infecting themselves with virus found on the palms after touching contaminated surfaces.