The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone wear a face mask while going out of the home to doctor, grocery shop, or any other public place where it is hard to follow social distancing rules.
Now, everyone knows a lot about the novel COVID-19 already. They know its causes and the modes of its spread. It is also important to know what preventive measures should be taken to stop its spread.
Mostly this virus moves around the globe through person to person contact. This is an upper respiratory virus that lives in the fluids of mouth, nose, and eyes and mucus. So a COVID-19 infected person can transmit it through a sneeze, cough, or even through breathing normally. That’s why social distancing is recommended by health experts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently recommended wearing face mask while going out of the home to any public place. But the world is facing a shortage of masks due to its high demand. That’s the reason CDC currently recommends making a cloth mask.
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Mike Bell is the deputy director of the CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, who says that a simple cloth mask is an approach to contain respiratory secretions directly at the source and not put others in danger.
The CDC has posted all the recommendations to make your own face mask and Bell has summarized these recommendations. He says instead of using one layer dense fabric, use a lighter fabric similar to cotton. Even, it can be a handkerchief. Take fabric to make a mask that can be washed and dried easily because this is the best way to sanitize the mask.
CDC recommends washing it daily but experts say that it’s fine to wash it after using two to three times but wash it immediately after interacting with someone who is symptomatic. There is no additional advantage the CDC can find to include filters such as coffee filters to an essential textile mask.
Bell says, “For a filter to be effective, you have to breathe through it. As you layer up filters into a cloth mask, which may have gaps on each side of your face, you’re not going to be able to breathe through it, so you’ll be breathing around it and sucking air from the side.”
Make a mask that is comfortable to wear at least for forty minutes or through you can breathe easily. Before making a mask, remember that the main purpose of it to keep your respiratory secretions from spreading into the environment around you.
Don’t make anything that may harm you. Also don’t strap mask onto small kids who might unable to take them off when they are experiencing difficulty while breathing.
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There are also some other good and bad approaches to wear a face mask. The CDC says to make a mask that covers your nose and mouth completely. If you haven’t need big gaps on the side then make sure it fits close to the side of your face. Bell says, “What you are trying to do is catch spit and spray before it leaves your face and mouth. The mask catches the droplet before they fly out,”
The executive show director for the American Quilter’s Society, Bonnie Browning offers a couple of different tips. He says always take off the mask with the help of ties or elastic but not the front of the mask. After using, wash it in hot water.
Always prefer rubber bands or other elastic when you make a cloth mask. Wearing a mask not prevents you from getting the infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends you wear a mask to keep individuals’ germs from being spread to other people. Don’t stop following COVID-19 social distancing rules when wearing a mask.