The COVID-19 pandemic presents monumental challenges. A newly emerged virus to which the world’s population has no immunity, coupled with the fast movement of people throughout the globe, has set the stage for an outbreak of proportions not seen in the last century.
For infection with this virus to occur, it should come into contact with the eyes, nostril, or mouth. This happens when droplets produced by an contaminated person (through talking, coughing or sneezing), land on the face of another person. These infectious droplets can journey as much as 6 feet, which is the reason to promote social distancing. Touching a surface that is contaminated with infectious droplets after which touching one’s own eyes, nostril or mouth, is another way for infection to occur. Therefore, the important thing to avoiding an infection is to have these areas of the face covered.
In hospitals, face masks and goggles are typically used to forestall exposure to infectious droplets. However, face masks shortages are occurring because of interruptions within the provide chain, which is deeply rooted in China and disrupted by the pandemic. Some health care workers have been compelled to resort to scarves and bandannas in a last-ditch try to protect themselves while providing care. Even when plentiful, face masks will not be with out problems. Once they turn into wet from the humidity in exhaled air, they lose effectiveness. In addition, some individuals contact their face more typically to adjust the mask, which increases the risk of infection if the hands are contaminated.
Cloth masks, although better than nothing, have been shown to be less protective than medical-grade face masks.
We consider that face shields provide a greater solution. There are many types, but all use clear plastic materials connected to a headpiece to cover the eyes, nose 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 individuals are more comfortable than face masks. Because these shields are reusable and are diversified throughout the availability chains of a number of industries, the current supply is less limited than for face masks. They’ll even be made at dwelling with objects from office supply and craft stores.
Every health care worker needs a face shield for protection at work. While face masks are still needed in some conditions, implementation of face shields will significantly reduce the need for face masks and prolong the restricted nationwide provide of masks. Engineers have produced designs for face shields which might be in the public domain, and fabrication at scale is relatively simple. To ensure that each health care worker has a face shield, production will need to ramp up to meet the demand via present manufacturers and recruitment of additional factories. Because the design is straightforward, large fast production would not be difficult.
As soon as the health care workdrive is provided, distribution to the public ought to start, with a goal to provide a face shield to each individual within the country. It should be worn anytime an individual leaves their home, while in any public place, and even at work. Though shelter-at-residence approaches are wanted to “bend the curve” of this pandemic, the following societal disruption limits the time that political leaders are willing to maintain such measures. As soon as each person is shielded, nevertheless, reducing restrictions on movement would carry less risk. Universal shielding might reduce reliance on social distancing since infectious droplets can’t reach the face of prone individuals. Handwashing, nevertheless, would stay essential to keep folks from infecting themselves with virus discovered on the hands after touching contaminated surfaces.
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