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 proparts not seen within the final century.
For infection with this virus to occur, it should come into contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth. This happens when droplets produced by an infected individual (through talking, coughing or sneezing), land on the face of one other person. These infectious droplets can travel as much as 6 feet, 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. Therefore, the important thing 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. Nevertheless, face masks 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 pressured to resort to scarves and bandannas in a last-ditch attempt to protect themselves while providing care. Even when plentiful, face masks will not be with out problems. Once they turn out to be wet from the humidity in exhaled air, they lose effectiveness. In addition, some individuals touch their face more often to adjust the masks, 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 believe that face shields provide a better solution. There are numerous types, but all use clear plastic materials connected 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 prevent the wearer from touching their face. Importantly, face shields are durable, could 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 a number of industries, the current supply is less restricted than for face masks. They’ll even be made at dwelling with items from office supply and craft stores.
Every health care worker needs a face shield for protection at work. While face masks are still wanted in some situations, implementation of face shields will tremendously reduce the need for face masks and lengthen the limited 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 every health care worker has a face shield, production will need to ramp as much as meet the demand through current producers and recruitment of additional factories. Because the design is easy, large speedy production wouldn’t be difficult.
Once the health care workdrive is equipped, distribution to the general public should begin, with a goal to provide a face shield to every particular person in the country. It must be worn anytime an individual leaves their residence, while in any public place, and even at work. Though shelter-at-residence approaches are needed to “bend the curve” of this pandemic, the ensuing societal disruption limits the time that political leaders are keen to maintain such measures. Once each person is shielded, nonetheless, reducing restrictions on movement would carry less risk. Common shielding could reduce reliance on social distancing since infectious droplets can not attain the face of susceptible individuals. Handwashing, nonetheless, would stay essential to maintain individuals from infecting themselves with virus found on the palms after touching contaminated surfaces.