The COVID-19 pandemic presents monumental challenges. A newly emerged virus to which the world’s inhabitants has no immunity, coupled with the speedy movement of people throughout the globe, has set the stage for an outbreak of proparts not seen within the final century.
For infection with this virus to occur, it must come into contact with the eyes, nostril, or mouth. This happens when droplets produced by an infected person (via speaking, coughing or sneezing), land on the face of another person. These infectious droplets can travel up to 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, nostril or mouth, is one other way for an infection to occur. Subsequently, the key to avoiding infection is to have these areas of the face covered.
In hospitals, face masks and goggles are typically used to forestall publicity to infectious droplets. However, face mask 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 forced to resort to scarves and bandannas in a final-ditch try and protect themselves while providing care. Even when plentiful, face masks should not without problems. As soon as they develop into wet from the humidity in exhaled air, they lose effectiveness. In addition, some people touch their face more typically to adjust the mask, which will increase the risk of infection if the palms are contaminated.
Material 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 lots of types, but all use clear plastic material hooked up to a headpiece to cover the eyes, nostril 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 forestall 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 across the provision chains of multiple industries, the present provide is less limited than for face masks. They will even be made at residence with items from office provide and craft stores.
Each health care worker wants a face shield for protection at work. While face masks are nonetheless needed in some situations, implementation of face shields will drastically reduce the necessity for face masks and lengthen the restricted nationwide supply of masks. Engineers have produced designs for face shields which can be in the public domain, and fabrication at scale is relatively simple. To ensure that each health care worker has a face shield, production might want to ramp up to meet the demand by current manufacturers and recruitment of additional factories. Because the design is simple, massive speedy production would not be difficult.
As soon as the health care workforce is supplied, distribution to the public ought to start, with a goal to provide a face shield to each particular person in the country. It ought to be worn anytime an individual leaves their home, while in any public place, and even at work. Though shelter-at-home approaches are wanted to “bend the curve” of this pandemic, the ensuing societal disruption limits the time that political leaders are keen to maintain such measures. As soon as each person is shielded, nonetheless, reducing restrictions on movement would carry less risk. Universal shielding may reduce reliance on social distancing since infectious droplets cannot attain the face of vulnerable individuals. Handwashing, nonetheless, would stay essential to keep people from infecting themselves with virus found on the arms after touching contaminated surfaces.
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