Danbury Coronavirus: Got A Spare Mask? Give It To This Woman

DANBURY, CT — Has there ever been a topic so obscure, elevated to emotional kitchen table conversation so quickly, as "surgical masks"?

"You need them."

"No, you don't, not really."

"Handmade ones work just as well as store bought."

"Are you crazy?"

"You can re-use them."

"Are you insane?"

"Hey look, my girlfriend made mine. It has the Batman logo on it!"

The unlikeliest expert on the topic, at least three weeks ago, would have been Taylor O'Brien, public relations coordinator for the Danbury Mayor's Office. But we were all somebody very different three weeks ago.

Now O'Brien's office is Surgical Mask Central in the City's effort to provide critical personal protection equipment (PPE) to health care workers, first responders, shelter workers and other City employees on the front lines of the Virus War. Playfully dubbed "Director of Donations" by Mayor Mark Boughton during his nightly livestreamed news conferences, O'Brien is the single point of contact for people who want to contribute PPE where it is most needed in Danbury.

She also traffics in cleaning supplies and hospital gowns, which are being used by volunteer nurses who are doing health screenings among the homeless population. O'Brien liaises and swaps gear with her opposite number at Danbury Hospital to ensure that both public and private sector workers are getting what they need.

Even though the city received an anonymous donation of 8,000 surgical masks, they're still a hot-ticket item because each may only be used once.

"Surgical masks are a great barrier, our health teams are wearing them any time they interact with the public or the homeless population. First responders, cops, they are all masked up," O'Brien said. It's fallen to her to get all those masks and other PPE from the hands of the residents who want to give them, onto the faces of the city workers who desperately need them.

The Cadillac of disposable face masks, the N95 filtering respirator, scrubs about 95 percent of airborne particles out of the air. O'Brien said those are overkill for your supermarket beer runs and toilet paper quests.

"For those masks specifically, unless you are in contact with someone who has COVID-19, it's not as necessary. If you're just going out to the grocery store, a surgical mask is what you want to put on. It's a barrier."

When O'Brien is able to score an N95, she hands it off to the Danbury Fire Department. There, someone "fit tests" it, to make sure the seal is adequate. As part of the process, an odorous aerosol is sprayed near the mask-tester. "If you can smell it, then it's not tight enough," O'Brien said.

O'Brien said she has seen people wearing the high-end masks with the straps off, or removing them every time they want to talk, and she says it defeats the whole advantage of these top-shelf items.

"If you're going to put a mask on, please wear it appropriately," she said.

For people who genuinely want to avoid spreading infection and not just cosplay as a Concerned Citizen, the World Health Organization lays out the following guidelines (that nobody you know is following):

• Before putting on a mask, clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
• Cover mouth and nose with mask and make sure there are no gaps between your face and the mask.
• Avoid touching the mask while using it; if you do, clean your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
• Replace the mask with a new one as soon as it is damp and do not re-use single-use masks.
• To remove the mask: remove it from behind (do not touch the front of mask); discard immediately in a closed bin; clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

One quick glance around the internet or the soup aisle and it's clear that anyone who used to while away their time making friendship bracelets is now busy hammering out DIY surgical masks. Even some celebrity fashion designers are trading their appliqués for air filters. For its purposes, the City does not accept homemade gear. "But for the average person in the public, sure, make your own, put it on, it's better than nothing," O'Brien said.

She believes that the "cool, fancy" masks are great, in the right environment.

"I don't think they'll become a status symbol, but I can understand why health workers are wearing them over their (regular) surgical mask. Think about the health care workers who work with children. Coming into a kid's room in a surgical mask could be a bit scary for a child, but if you've got the Batman logo..."

Helping Danbury navigate through the coronavirus crisis is more of a personal mission for O'Brien than it is a day job. She grew up in the City, and, after graduating from Syracuse University in 2016, began working immediately in the mayor's office. Under calmer circumstances, when she is not overseeing critical supply-chain logistics in a pandemic-stricken city, her PR gig includes management of the City's website, and all sorts of other press- and public-facing activities, including overseeing City Hall's art gallery.

Back in March, when the coronavirus outbreak hit southwest Connecticut so hard and O'Brien began the outreach to residents for PPE donations, she said she wasn't sure what to expect. So many Danbury residents were suddenly out of work, caring for sick family members, or both, and really couldn't be expected to look much past their own hard luck.

But then, so many Danbury residents stepped up and surprised her.

"They are absolutely amazing! I have people trekking out to City Hall with one box of gloves they've found, or one mask they found unused in their closet," O'Brien said. "I have just gotten the kindest emails from people. Everyone wants to bring us food!"

If you have masks, gloves, gowns or cleaning supplies, contact Taylor O'Brien in the mayor's office at t.obrien@danbury-ct.gov to arrange a drop-off.