The COVID-19 pandemic presents huge 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 within the last century.
For an infection with this virus to happen, it should come into contact with the eyes, nostril, or mouth. This happens when droplets produced by an contaminated individual (through speaking, coughing or sneezing), land on the face of one other person. These infectious droplets can travel as much as 6 toes, which is the reason to promote social distancing. Touching a surface that is contaminated with infectious droplets and then touching one’s own eyes, nostril or mouth, is another way for an infection to occur. Due to this fact, 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 masks shortages are occurring because of interruptions in the supply 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 try to protect themselves while providing care. Even when plentiful, face masks aren’t with out problems. Once they develop into wet from the humidity in exhaled air, they lose effectiveness. In addition, some people contact their face more usually 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 better solution. There are various types, however all use clear plastic materials 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, may be cleaned after use, reused repeatedly, and for many people are more comfortable than face masks. Because these shields are reusable and are diversified across the provision chains of a number of industries, the present provide is less restricted than for face masks. They can even be made at house with items from office supply and craft stores.
Each health care worker wants a face shield for protection at work. While face masks are still wanted in some conditions, implementation of face shields will vastly reduce the need for face masks and lengthen the limited nationwide supply of masks. Engineers have produced designs for face shields which can be within the public domain, and fabrication at scale is comparatively simple. To make sure that each health care worker has a face shield, production might want to ramp as much as meet the demand by way of current manufacturers and recruitment of additional factories. Because the design is easy, large fast production wouldn’t be difficult.
As soon as the health care workpressure is provided, distribution to the public should start, with a goal to provide a face shield to each person within the country. It must be worn anytime a person leaves their dwelling, while in any public place, and even at work. Although shelter-at-residence approaches are needed to “bend the curve” of this pandemic, the ensuing 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. Universal shielding could reduce reliance on social distancing since infectious droplets can not attain the face of vulnerable individuals. Handwashing, however, would stay essential to keep individuals from infecting themselves with virus discovered on the palms after touching contaminated surfaces.