Coronavirus: Surgical Masks Project Found Volunteers To Sew Masks

BURLINGTON, MA — UPDATE: The group received enough volunteers and have taken down the sign-up form.

A family of medical professionals in the Boston area are working on a surgical mask project and sought volunteers starting Wednesday to help make protective masks and to coordinate regional efforts. They received thousands of responses before closing the form Thursday.

Public health agencies do not recommend members of the public wear face masks; there is no evidence they protect the wearer. Masks can be used to prevent people from spreading respiratory illnesses.

Michael Rosenblatt is a surgeon at an area hospital, where his son also works. His two daughters are public health students. Two other area hospitals have contacted them as they ramp up the project. They're also working with a textile company on materials, son Andrew Rosenblatt said.

"He's doing a lot involved with disaster-preparedness," Rosenblatt said of his father. "I'm sure there are people all over the country seeing this: We're going to be short on masks."

The family is setting up a structure that can be replicated elsewhere, given the interest they have gotten around the country, Rosenblatt said. That includes recruiting regional coordinators in addition to people who can sew.

The plan is to separate mask construction into at least three steps, keeping the people performing each task separated. Then the completed masks will be washed in hospitals' industrial washers before use, to ensure they're sterile.

They hope to begin turning out masks by Monday, Rosenblatt said.

"The tough part is getting all the materials," he explained.

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Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is as yet no vaccine against COVID-19 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

To avoid spreading any respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

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This story has been updated.