Abstract
The year 2020 will be punctuated by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the history of human civilization. Within four months, COVID-19 has become a public healthcare crisis in all nations around the world. Until a suitable vaccine is found and made widely available, the immediate solutions to protect individuals and to control the spread of the pandemic include wearing a face mask, maintaining personal hygiene, and social distancing. Certified face masks have become national essentials, and countries have imposed restrictions on exports, which has increased the worldwide shortages of masks and raw materials. This situation has also led to confusion and misinformation about face masks. This paper aims to provide quality information on face masks to alleviate the shortages. Disinfecting used masks and making homemade masks are discussed as emergency solutions. The development and manufacture of innovative masks (such as reusable masks, antivirus masks, and degradable masks) have become essential needs of society and involve both opportunities and challenges during this unprecedented time. In this prospective study, we provide the definitions, basic requirements, materials, possible preparation methods, and challenges of these innovative masks and highlight their important role in preventing epidemics similar to COVID-19.
Highlights
The transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 The virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the main cause of the disease outbreak (Fig. 1)
Until a suitable vaccine is developed and made widely available, wearing a protective facemask, personal hygiene and social distancing are ubiquitously followed to prevent the spread of the virus
We provide suggestions for homemade masks with regard to materials: (i) the filtration performance of single-layer fabrics is usually poor, and the use of multiple layers (> 4 layers) can provide better protection for individuals; (ii) since synthetic fibers rubbing against each other may generate static electricity, the filtering performance of synthetic fiber fabrics may be better than that of natural fiber fabrics; (iii) the use of cotton fabrics combined with synthetic fiber fabrics may maintain the uniformity of static electricity
Summary
The transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 The virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the main cause of the disease outbreak (Fig. 1). Similar to SARS-CoV (a virus outbreak in 2003), SARS-CoV-2 can combine with angiotensinconverting enzyme 2 (ACE2) to invade the human body. Affected patients may develop pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Because SARS-CoV-2 can make better use of ACE2, it can invade the human body more than SARS-CoV [5]. Since the virus has a long incubation period (3–20 days) and given the presence of asymptomatic carriers, preventing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is challenging. The COVID-19 outbreak in China, which produces half of the world’s face masks, has generated a twofold challenge: there is surging domestic demand and a major.
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