Indians will make masks at home to overcome shortage

New Delhi – Shortage of face mask and hand sanitizers is a stark reality. With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, as anxious public frantically shopped hygiene products, in particular mask and hand sanitizers, the sudden increased supply could not be met by the burgeoning demand.Government of India has come up with an innovative solution of homemade face mask said Dr Shailja Vaidya Gupta, Senior Adviser, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser .

The Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India issued the manual on homemade masks: Masks for Curbing the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus for home fabrication. The key criteria for proposed designs are Ease of Access to Materials, Easy of Making at Home, Ease of Use and Reuse.

Shops and services are demanding that the customers use face mask. In some shops the patrons are denied services for not using the face mask. The homemade mask would help people. Many health experts are also suggesting use of face mask in public spaces could reduce the spread of infection. The proposed guide is meant to provide a simple outline to make, use and reuse masks. This manual could be used by NGOs and individuals to self-create such masks and accelerate widespread adoption of use of masks across India.

Protective masks lower the chances of coronavirus entering our respiratory system through droplets that are present in the air. According to a report published in Pub Med analyses show that if 50% of the population were to wear masks, only 50% of the population would be infected by the virus. Once 80% of the population wears a mask, the outbreak can be stopped substantially. Wearing of masks is especially recommended for people living in densely populated areas.

India has pockets of dense population: its mind boggling the density; the North East district of Delhi has a population density of 36,155 per square km, the models and control points for India are out of scale! Masks and washing hands will help and easy to make at home, said Dr Gupta while speaking with India Science Wire.