Do-It-Yourself Face Masks Actually Fail To Counter CO.VID-19

Amid the COVID-19 nightmare, knitting workers are now under the pressure of filling an increasing gap in every country's face mask supply - now they're even called "the sewing army". 

Although it is good to have more knitting workers to produce more face masks, the fact may surprise us that cloth masks are eventually useless in preventing the virus, and are only used as the last resort. 

In the time when the coronavirus outbreak is getting more serious, personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, face shields, and surgical masks are becoming limited. And this will not be good news: less healthy medical practitioners, less treatment and as a result, more deaths.

As stated by a CDC spokesperson, homemade masks are in fact not PPEs and are advised to use only as the last resort when there are no face masks or respirators left. They must be used together with protective equipment like face shields. 

Again, it should be noted that this strategy is only used as other options are limited, and it does not comply with U.S standards of medical treatment. And it should be acknowledged that the realities are getting hard nowadays. 

 The best option for practitioners in this scenario shall be the N95 respirator masks for its superior capabilities of catching over 95% of particulates. While surgical masks are basically equipped like a physical barrier with no sealing. 

 As people believe in the effectiveness of cloth face masks, in fact, they are doing more harm than good. With just a touch from a contaminated surface, you may end up with being infected. In addition, cloth masks are not well sterilized. 

What you can do now is to donate much to the local hospitals to buy as many PPEs as they can. Also, you don't need respirator masks as it does nothing more than protecting people surrounding from getting an infection. Keep yourself enough for face masks, and if possible, donate masks to front-line practitioners who need them more than you. 

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