The COVID-19 pandemic presents monumental challenges. A newly emerged virus to which the world’s population has no immunity, coupled with the speedy movement of individuals throughout the globe, has set the stage for an outbreak of proparts not seen in the last century.
For infection with this virus to happen, it should come into contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth. This occurs when droplets produced by an contaminated particular person (via speaking, coughing or sneezing), land on the face of one other person. These infectious droplets can travel as much as 6 ft, which is the reason to promote social distancing. Touching a surface that is contaminated with infectious droplets and then touching one’s own eyes, nose or mouth, is another way for infection to occur. Therefore, the key to avoiding infection is to have these areas of the face covered.
In hospitals, face masks and goggles are typically used to prevent 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 pressured to resort to scarves and bandannas in a final-ditch try to protect themselves while providing care. Even when plentiful, face masks usually are not with out problems. As soon as they become wet from the humidity in exhaled air, they lose effectiveness. In addition, some people contact their face more often to adjust the masks, which will increase 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 believe that face shields provide a better solution. There are numerous types, however all use clear plastic materials connected to a headpiece to cover the eyes, nose and mouth, thereby stopping infectious droplets from contacting these areas where the virus can enter the body. They cover more of the face than masks and prevent the wearer from touching their face. Importantly, face shields are durable, may 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 supply chains of multiple industries, the current supply is less restricted than for face masks. They can even be made at residence with items from office supply and craft stores.
Each health care worker needs a face shield for protection at work. While face masks are nonetheless needed in some situations, implementation of face shields will vastly reduce the need for face masks and extend the restricted national supply of masks. Engineers have produced designs for face shields which can be in the public domain, and fabrication at scale is comparatively simple. To make sure that every health care worker has a face shield, production might want to ramp up to meet the demand by means of current manufacturers and recruitment of additional factories. Because the design is straightforward, massive rapid production wouldn’t be difficult.
Once the health care workpressure is supplied, distribution to the general public ought to begin, with a goal to provide a face shield to every individual within the country. It should be worn anytime an individual leaves their dwelling, while in any public place, and even at work. Although shelter-at-house approaches are needed to “bend the curve” of this pandemic, the following societal disruption limits the time that political leaders are willing to sustain such measures. As soon as each particular person is shielded, nonetheless, 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 vulnerable individuals. Handwashing, however, would stay essential to maintain individuals from infecting themselves with virus discovered on the arms after touching contaminated surfaces.