Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations regarding the use of cloth face coverings as an additional public health measure accompanying social distancing, public health officials and others in Moniteau County are working to help fashion such masks for those in need.
Moniteau County Public Health started a community mask outreach program earlier this month, with members of the community volunteering to help make or donate masks for citizens throughout Moniteau County. The Health Center has a drop box for request forms, which volunteers are helping to fulfill promptly, even delivering to those who have requested masks if they are unable to leave their homes.
"Cloth masks are one of those things where it's not really classified as proper PPE - personal protective equipment - but it's another one of those steps to help reduce risks," Moniteau County 911 Director Kevin Wieberg said.
Cloth isn't really a good filter for pathogens or viruses that are transmitted via coughs or sneezes, Wieberg said, but it does a pretty good job of blocking some of those things from escaping a person and spreading more easily.
The face masks being produced through the community mask outreach project are being made with pockets that can fit filters to help enhance their effectiveness in helping to mitigate that risk. Wieberg said these filters have been everything from standard medical filters to even coffee filters, so long as it's more than just a piece of cloth.
Most importantly, though, Wieberg said wearing any sort of mask, be it a cloth mask or more proper PPE equipment, is not a replacement for the basics, from hand washing to social distancing.
"The whole point of these masks (is) they're not necessarily an excuse to break the social distancing recommendations," Wieberg said. "They're another step to help reduce risk while practicing proper social distancing."
Moniteau County 911/Emergency Management has also had to get creative with stretching resources for PPE for first responders and members of law enforcement. Wieberg said it's difficult to obtain PPE to distribute to first responders - orders have to be so large that going through the state is really the only way smaller communities are able to obtain more resources, he said.
Shortages in these supplies also contribute to these difficulties. Wieberg said Moniteau County ordered more surgical masks before there was even a confirmed case in the state, but that order never arrived, likely due to demand. That makes the cloth masks being produced even more important, since they may help to prevent the public from snapping up crucial medical equipment that will continue to remain in short supply.
"That's one of the things we push out," Wieberg said. "If the public's wanting to wear a mask, here's a cloth mask. If for some reason, you're able to get your hands on surgical masks or N95 (masks), those are designed for folks who are going to be in close proximity of a person. For instance, our health care workers. They don't have the ability to stay six feet away from somebody if they're treating a patient, so they need to have that level of PPE. That's where we're wanting that stock to go to."
Wieberg said it's hard because there's a bit of a misconception around the use of PPE and what it can do for the average person to protect from the spread of COVID-19. He said the product is wasted if, for example, one was to just wear an N95 mask when driving in their car. Wieberg said the level of protection granted from wearing a mask and gloves when out and about is minimal unless one understands how to use those supplies properly.
"You can get the coronavirus on your hands and still not contract it - that's why we instituted hand washing and hand sanitizer," Wieberg said. "Gloves (aren't) going to protect you, because people are going to wear gloves but they're going to touch their face or something else and they're going to cross contaminate. Essentially, this defeats the purpose. Coronavirus doesn't absorb through the skin - it comes in through your mouth, nose and eyes. People wearing N95 masks, it's great to have that level of protection, but they just need to use it smartly and not waste it."
Wieberg said one way that public health officials have been working around short PPE supplies has come through 3-D printed masks and filters. He said they were able to find a 97 percent particulate filter, greater than that of an N95 mask, of which one a 2-by-2 inch square of material is needed to fit the reusable masks. The county's existing supply of N95 masks can be cut into the same sized square for that purpose, as well.
Wieberg said the 3-D masks were fitted to each individual law enforcement officer - 40 or so masks in total. He said this work has now moved on to fitting staff at the jail.
"I am fairly confident in this - it's obviously a lot better than what we have," Wieberg said. "We found that it's added a great layer of protection."
Wieberg said work to help protect area fire departments began this week. Firefighters already possess self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBA), which connect a face mask to oxygen tanks that are worn on their backs. The solution, in this case, is homemade adapters to make use of these existing masks as a makeshift face filter.
"That way, any limited supply of PPE that we are getting in, we're directing that to health care, we're directing that to public health, because those are the folks who are going to be interacting with people in a much closer type of setting than what fire and law (enforcement) would be," Wieberg said.
The idea that we're all just trying to help each other, Wieberg said. Taking this approach can allow Moniteau County to spread some resources to smaller surrounding communities that may find themselves even more in need.
Those who are interested in learning more about the community mask outreach project or would like to contribute by donating or creating masks of their own can contact Darlene Oliver at [email protected]. An order form for those who wish to request a mask is available at www.moniteaucovid19.com/community-masks.