‘Demand goes viral in the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic

At a time when governments are struggling to reach out to some tribal hamlets located deep inside the forest, like the Chenchus of Nallamalla forest, have made personal protective equipment such as face masks from leaves of teak and sal trees. They are also not stepping out from their hamlets, except to collect forest produce once or twice a week.

For centuries, cultures around the world have used masks in ritual dances and festivals to represent traditional characters. This copper mask, found in the Smithsonian’s […]

The post Mexican Masks: Tales Through Dance appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Use of protective face coverings will be one of many strategies used to slow or prevent transmission of the flu virus in the event of a pandemic, even though scientific evidence about the effectiveness of inexpensive, disposable medical masks and respirators against influenza is limited.

A new rapid expert consultation from a standing committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine responds to questions from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding the effectiveness of homemade fabric masks to protect others from the viral spread of COVID-19 from potentially contagious asymptomatic or presymptomatic individuals.

City lights keeping you awake? Put on an eco-friendly sleep mask and get a darker, deeper night's sleep.

Ditch pricey, over-the-counter face creams for DIY masks that use ingredients you already have in your pantry.

We answer all your questions about coronavirus face masks, from how to make one to who needs to wear one and what each kind of mask does.

Manufacturer Stops all Tight Production and Makes Masks To Help Ease Demand on Surgical Equivalents

The Global Piracy Counterfeiting Consultants is urging President Trump to issue an executive order that requires on-line marketers selling surgical gloves, masks or hand sanitizers in the USA to name the country where the product was made-like China.

Sage construction accounting solution provider connects COVID-19 medical shortage with potential client base inventory

Funstigators, an independent clothing company based in Los Angeles run by Cookie and Jesse Steele, has refocused it's manufacturing operations to produce masks that will help slow the spread of COVID-19 through the community.

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has shown the dire need to have essential health goods manufactured in the United States, rather than places like China. Startup company SerraeX is aiming to change this with their ambitious new crowdfunding campaign

Washington Post: In the early days of the pandemic, the U.S. government turned down an offer to manufacture millions of N95 masks in America. “It was Jan. 22, a day after the first case of covid-19 was detected in the United States, and orders were pouring into Michael Bowen’s company outside Fort Worth, some from … Continue reading Washington Post: In the early days of the pandemic, the U.S. government turned down an offer to manufacture millions of N95 masks in America

North Carolina researchers are now trying to spread the word about their tried-and-true decontamination method for surgical masks.

The post Researchers Have Found a Way to Sterilize and Reuse Face Masks During Pandemic appeared first on Good News Network.

The masks had been left in the warehouse of the Swedish store to gather dust following the most recent bird flu outbreak.

The post After Rediscovering Warehouse Treasure Trove of 50,000 Face Masks, IKEA Donates Them All to Hospital appeared first on Good News Network.

The Danish toy company has reworked some of their equipment to produce more than 13,000 protective plastic face masks every day.

The post LEGO Factory is Now Producing Thousands of Protective Plastic Face Masks for Medical Workers appeared first on Good News Network.

This hardy senior has been sewing hundreds of homemade face masks for all her friends, family, and community members—all while jamming to The Beatles.

The post 89-Year-Old Sews 600 Masks While Listening to The Beatles – WATCH appeared first on Good News Network.

Staff will now be wearing masks and face shields

Back in 2017, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published this infographic on the Facial Hairstyles and Filtering Facepiece Respirators to help men understand that beards can make facemasks ineffective. With the daily news about the Coronavirus (Covid-19) bordering on panic, this infographic has resurfaced, and is being widely republished.

NOTE: The CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from COVID-19.

From the CDC FAQ:

Does the CDC recommend the use of facemask to prevent COVID-19?

CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19. You should only wear a mask if a healthcare professional recommends it. A facemask should be used by people who have COVID-19 and are showing symptoms. This is to protect others from the risk of getting infected. The use of facemasks also is crucial for health workers and other people who are taking care of someone infected with COVID-19 in close settings (at home or in a health care facility).

From the original CDC blog post on November 2, 2017:

The month of November is full of fun, interesting, and thought-provoking observances. November is National Raisin Bread Month, Historic Bridge Awareness Month, and Inspirational Role Models Month among so much more. November is also the host month to campaigns like No-Shave November and Movember. Campaigns such as these are working hard to raise money for important causes such as cancer research, education, and awareness. These increasingly popular campaigns are a great way to demonstrate your support … unless you need to wear a tight-fitting respirator for your job.

Don’t despair! We will not completely ruin your plans to compete for facial hair bragging rights. But we’re going to have to get creative about it…

I do love that the CDC is using infographics to spread valuable information in a fun, easy-to-digest way that informs people using visual explanations. They also specifically call out the designer of the beard and moustache vector art they used from ShutterStock, fredrisher

Sewing is my new coping mechanism.…

For each totally black pixel of image data to be printed using a fluid-ejection printing device, it is determined whether the pixel is part of a line feature or an area fill feature of the image data. Where the pixel is part of a line feature, a first printing mask selected that is optimized for printing line features. Where the pixel is part of an area fill feature, a second printing mask is selected that is optimized for printing area fill features. Each mask specifies a number of fluid droplets to be printed and positions where the fluid droplets are to be printed. The selected mask is applied to the pixel. The pixel is printed using the mask that has been applied. The fluid-ejection printing device prints the pixel by ejecting the number of fluid droplets specified by the mask at the positions specified by the mask.

A respiratory mask or other sealing interface can be used in combination with a nasal cannula or other unsealing interface in providing respiratory therapies for the treatment of COPD or OSA. The mask can act as a pressure vessel over the top of a nasal cannula, with the intention of increasing expiratory pressure whilst allowing the nasal cannula to provide a user with breathing gases of a high humidity and temperature. The ability to selectively apply increased expiratory pressure may be effective in reducing a user's breathing rate and thus beneficial in the treatment of respiratory distress.

SOUTHAMPTON has become the centre of a volunteer effort to provide medical and care staff with 3D-printed face protectors.

The City of Ypsilanti has partnered with Eastern Michigan University to make face masks.

Richard Lutz, in isolation, watches the world go by. 

Johan Andersson, the store's logistics boss whose team found them, had just read that hospitals were suffering from a shortage of masks amid the coronavirus outbreak so he rang up Sahlgrenska University Hospital - Sweden's biggest - in Gothenburg and asked if they were interested.

Dior, which is also owned by LVMH, the world's biggest luxury goods group, has been making masks since the end of last month for hospital staff.

It is a tough time for apparel retailers who are looking at zero offline revenues and a steep drop in online sales. The latest dress or the pair of khakis may not be able to save them.

International brands have begun sharing prototypes of fashion masks in cotton and blends with Indian suppliers who are awaiting a nod from the Centre to export non-surgical masks.

Officials are already taking necessary action against black-marketers and hoarders as per law under the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act. The minister said the practice of social distancing must be followed while distributing ration among beneficiaries, who should be asked to maintain a distance of at least one metre between them.

IT’S a scandal! (South Side residents rage as dirty masks and gloves dumped in street, Glasgow Times online).

My husband and I were given two N-95 masks by the wife of a (retired) doctor from church when C19 was barely making headlines. She said he had a couple of boxes from his practice. Is it legal for us to use them if we *must* go out? I am immunocompromised, if that makes any difference. My husband is not. I understand the moral argument for not using them. Is it worth taking just two to drop off at a medical office or hospital? We are in a mid-sized city in the southeast, not a big city like NYC.

Your thoughts are appreciated.