The COVID-19 Crisis is Easing, but Masks will Certainly be Needed in the Future!
The “Crush” of the COVID-19 Pandemic has likely passed. However, this does not mean an end to the basic precautions that we have been taking for the last three months. We have to maintain some degree of “social distancing”, Face Masks to be worn when social distancing isn’t feasible, increased washing of the hands, and avoiding touching our faces. As seen by the results after last week’s Memorial Day “Holiday Vacation from Social Distancing”, this virus still has the potential to “flare up” or “spike” again, as a great number of our population has not yet been infected by the virus. The Memorial Day Flare Up occurred when many felt safe in taking a break from the pandemic and its behavior restraints and enjoyed being with each other at close quarters and in large groups. What resulted when these people “broke stride” with social distancing and mask wearing were outbreaks with increasing numbers of new infections. Once a vaccine for this virus is in place that prevents infections, it may well be possible to ease back somewhat on some of these behaviors.
I do believe that Face Masks will still be needed at times going forward. I think that we avoided a “worst case scenario” of COVID-19 infection in this country as we went immediately to wearing masks, which really helped to block a major route of transmission of this virus. Looking at the demographics of COVID-19, we can see that the places that had the worst experience with the virus were those with the densest populations, witness the urban areas with high population density where people couldn’t really practice effective social distancing that were hit much harder by infection than the less densely populated rural areas were. Similarly, when some people tried to reopen businesses prematurely, it was found that those in the businesses that had close contact with people may have literally become the “Johnny Appleseeds” of COVID-19, sowing the virus throughout their business area, creating a viral “hot spots”.
This post is not meant to make anyone paranoid, we know what we have to do to avoid this type of infection. The isolation/social distancing theory has been known for years, it is the practice of isolation that is the difficult part. In the far East, the residents have worn masks in public for the last number of years as a way to “respect others” by not subjecting them to the risk of the flu or other infections. Due to their high population density, as mentioned above, the flu, viral, and bacterial infections can be spread easily in these areas and the residents take precautions to avoid spreading disease. There are certainly times of the year where wearing a mask is the right thing to do, particularly during Flu Season.
During the high point of the COVID-19 Pandemic, we at V Technical Textiles, Inc. produced Face Masks using our state-of-the-art cut and sew department to produce Face Masks in order to ease the shortage that occurred when the demand for masks increased beyond the capability of the supply chain. Our Face Masks were enhanced with our unique silver plated fabrics and even copper mesh inserts in an effort to make them more effective.
Many Do It Yourself (DIY) groups were very clever and were able to fashion excellent Face Masks during the crisis, some people and groups ordering and using our metalized textiles in order to add to their masks. One group that had a great set of Face Mask instructions was My Happy DIY Home, which offered five DIY mask styles on their site! We will continue to make Face Masks going forward, but also encourage anyone who enjoys DIY to try the patterns and methods on My Happy DIY Home by clicking the link above to make your own individualized Face Mask. We are a specialized textile company and are happy to make our metalized textiles available to you to incorporate into your masks so that they will have additional filtration features incorporated in them. Please continue to USE YOUR HEAD AND STOP THE SPREAD of COVID-19!!
V Technical Textiles, Inc.
www.vtechtextiles.com
info@vtechtextiles.com
(315)-597-1674 PHONE
(315)-597-6687 FAX
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