The masks you must use to avoid infection are these

Culture of the recommendations to avoid the spread of the coronavirus is to use masks if you are going out of your home.But what are you to use and which are not?

By Emily Farra

When it comes to the management of the Coronavirus outbreak in countries such as the United States, a common comment between colleagues and friends is that we are not receiving enough signs from South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.The curve has "flattened" in those places for a variety of reasons, one of them is that facial masks were already part of their cultures.In many parts of Asia, it is customary to use a mask (and perhaps also gloves) on the train, in the supermarket or simply walking through the city, regardless of its health;It is a daily caution, one that is both self -protection and protecting others.Meanwhile, in the USA.UU., many would be surprised to see someone using a surgical mask in its local super market.

Even in the middle of a pandemic, the authorities have assured Americans for weeks that healthy citizens do not need to start using masks, first, because diligent handwashing, social distancing and staying at home are widely considered the most effective formsTo stop the propagation, and second, because we need to reserve those medical supplies for health workers. Pero a medida que nos preparamos para el pico de los diagnósticos COVID-19 y nuestros gobiernos federales y locales comienzan a planificar nuestro eventual regreso a la "vida normal", los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades​ (CDC, por su siglas en inglés) aparentemente están reconsiderando su postura.In an NPR interview earlier this week, the director of the CDC, Robert Redfield, said the agency is "aggressively reviewing" its data on the masks that the general public uses.This occurs after its discovery that potentially 25% of infected people are asymptomatic;Thought seems that if you do not know that you are sick but use a mask anyway, your risk of infecting others without realizing it is less.On Tuesday, President Trump essentially told Americans not to expect more instructions and begin to use a mask if they wish, although, like CDC, he warned that we should not buy N95 or surgical masks, which are already thereIn danger of being exhausted in hospitals.Instead, we should collect scarves or fabric masks, or simply do ours.Conventional fabrics such as cotton will block droplets and can provide significant protection against particles in the air, unlike an N95, which, as the name implies, blocks 95% of the particles, precisely because of this is that this is whyA fabric mask is not suitable for the treatment of a doctor or nurse to COVID-19 patients.

As I wrote last week, designers who are eager to help should make fabric masks for their customers and educate them about why "normal people" should not further aggravate the shortage of medical supplies.If the CDCs change their recommendations and we see an increase in civil mask demand, that message will be even more crucial;The greatest argument against a mask recommendation at the national level is that we could panic and start buying those difficult medical supplies to obtain at inflated prices, which worsens even more the serious shortage.

But maybe it's an alarmist concern;People who were going to ignore the "rules" and ask for online medical masks probably already did.Or they will do not care what the CDC says.In an opinion article for the New York Times, Zeynep Tumekci, a professor at the University of North Carolina specialized in the social effects of technology, argued that the original CDC guide is that the public does not need masks and must reserve them forHealth workers.The problem may have begun first by confusing people and inspiring them to do exactly the opposite: “Unfortunately, the conversation from top to bottom around the masks has become a case study on how not to communicate with the public,especially now that traditional guardians such as the media and health authorities have much less control.The message became counterproductive and may have further encouraged hoarding because it seemed that the authorities were shaping the message about the management of shortage instead of facing the reality of the situation ".She also wrote: “Research shows that during disasters, people can show surprisingly altruistic behavior, but authorities' interventions can be counterproductive if they feed distrust or treat the public as an adversary instead of people who will take a stepgo ahead if they are treated with respect.Since even homemade masks can work better than any, using them could be something that indicates to the people who do while they stay at home more, as we should all ”.

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In that sense, several designers are already working hard to make "civil masks" of fabric and even teach how their own do their own.Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer de Coperni shared a pattern for a fabric mask on their website a couple of weeks ago, plus an Instagram video step by step (which even a beginner should be able to follow: it only needs scissors, fabric and a needleand thread)."We feel inspired [to start doing masks] by our family, most of whom work in the field of medicine," Vaillant and Meyer wrote to Vogue in an email.“We immediately wanted to help, even with our limited assets.The idea is to leave the protective masks approved by FFP2 [a European standard that is equivalent to N95] masks for medical staff, and encourage the population to make their own masks for everyday life ".Soon they received hundreds of photos of Instagram followers and friends worldwide who used their pattern to sew a mask."It was surprising to see the links that were created between different people around the world who experienced the same situation and sought solutions," add the designers."A link of solidarity and support has been created around this cause throughout the world".

While Vaillant and Meyer currently do not have the ability to produce and sell masks on their website, they had another idea for the brands that wish to help: “We strongly encourage houses and luxury groups from all over the world to donate their textilesnot used to produce 'mascara -manufacturing kits' to deliver or sell to the general public.We will be happy to help in the development and conception of this project ".

In New York, Hillary Taymour de Collina Strad.He has already donated many of them to the Masks 4 Medicine initiative;While they are not a substitute for medical grade masks, some health professionals are using them as "covers" about their N95 to extend their useful life, since they are now forced to reuse repeatedly.After sharing photos of the masks on Instagram, the demand for Taymour's clients shot instantly."I had so many DM [Instagram] of people asked for the masks," she says.“I felt weird for exploiting a product and selling something that is an essential need, so we started giving them free with all purchases at our electronic commerce site.But now I feel that people are only buying products [on our site] to receive a mask, so I am calculating a good price to move forward with them ".

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Lia Kes, founder of the New York Kes sustainable brand, began selling recycled cotton and silk masks on her website last week.He has also been using one at any time outside: "I have not left home without a mask in recent weeks, and neither my children and our team," he says."The reaction of our followers, customers and influential people of Instagram has been supported: we have never experienced as much online traffic as we are now, and the reaction is moving".It is a good advantage that your masks come in luxury materials and berphil tones and ivory.In addition to selling them to civilians, the mask profits will also go to buy medical supplies for health workers.

In the coming weeks, it is fair to assume that more designers will begin to make fabric masks for civil use, whether or not to become an official CDC mandate.It is a decisive axis of what we saw only two weeks ago, when designers were more focused on sewing masks for health workers.When it became clear that this was not going to work, mainly because the fabric masks do not offer enough protection, and the N95 can only occur in factories approved by the FDA, the CFDA encouraged them to explore the manufacture of other types of EPP, soas fabric masks for people like us.If you are looking for one right now, consider Threaeasfour's masks;Citizen of Humanity;Maison Modulare, a new line of sustainable products by Hiraeth's designer, Chrys Wong;and Lingua Franca, who does not sell masks, per se, but has shared virtual tutorials to sew his own.Rachel Comey also shared an instruction video on Instagram to make a cloth masks at home.

Selfies will certainly be very different, especially here in New York, where Covid-19 cases have increased to more than 47,000.But before you panic and use your 24/7 mask, my sister, a UCUC nurse who uses them frequently, warned me about their vaguely dehumanizing effects.If you can't see someone's face, you can't completely read your emotions or see your smile, and those connections are more important than ever these days.The advice we have heard is to use a mask only when you are out of the house and if that makes you feel safer, not when you are on the sofa facetiming to your mother.In addition, you must take away the mask to adequately disinfect it: "It is important to wash them daily," says Taymour."You need to treat your mask as training clothes.If you worked very hard the day before, would you wear the same clothes the next day?Hand lava with warm water and soap and let it dry completely during the night.If you are also looking to help other people get masks, Taymour says that the New York Child Protection Division is accepting fabric masks for children at risk at risk."I can only do some so many, so anyone who can sew can help," she says."We are stronger together".