Many people across the city have been wanting to help our health care workers by hand sewing masks.
Tommye Austin, senior vice president, chief nurse executive at University Health System, said the hospital appreciates the generous donations, but for them, those fabric masks would be a last resort.
"I would suggest for the individuals who are making homemade masks -- first of all -- I want to say thank you for thinking of us,” said Austin. “Our ability to use those would be a last ditch effort if we had nothing else, but we have a contingency plan.”
Austin said while there is no shortage of face masks or supplies at the University Health System right now, the reason hand-sewn masks would be a last ditch effort is because they are not as effective.
"With a barrier mask or cough mask, there’s an opportunity for you to stay protected,” said Austin. “But the efficiency of that mask is not at the rate of 95%. Most cough masks are 40% to 50%, according to the literature, but it is better than nothing.”
Austin said the N95 mask gives health care workers the strongest barrier. It means that 95% of the particles are not going to be able to get in the mask. In fact, Austin said even an expired N95 is effective.
“It still has the ability to hold at least 90% of the particles out,” said Austin. “If someone gave me an expired N95 mask, I would take it because it still has the capacity to keep you safe.”
As far as wearing some type of mask in public, even if you’re healthy, Austin said that may be a good idea because people who are not showing any signs of COVID-19 could still be infected with the virus.
“There’s a mixed bag of thought in regards to wearing masks,” said Austin. “I would wear a mask personally because, if I were asymptomatic, if I had COVID-19, I would want to protect individuals from contracting that virus and so, from that standpoint, I think it’s a good idea for individuals to wear it so they can protect someone else.”
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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