Masking

In New York, we are required to wear masks whenever we go out in public.  MUST.   If you are MUSTing us, you MUST provide the masks or provide the means to get them. 

We can't purchase masks from any place.  I ordered second rate, more than likely fifth rate, masks from Walmart and Google, which have been in transit since April 1st.  I contacted Walmart to cancel and am still trying to find a way to cancel my Google order.  (Cancelling on Google is enough material for its own chronicle). There are no masks.  Anywhere.  Nowhere.  Why take my money and make promises you can't keep?

So sew your own.  Who says I can sew?  The truth is I can't. Find someone to make them for you.  I have, but they need supplies - fabric, liners, elastic, thread and more.  The fabric stores are closed. Open them back up as essential business. 

Ok, so make your own.  All kinds of tutorials are out there.  Even the Surgeon General has his own video.  Use a t shirt and rubber bands, fold it here and fold it there.  Or wear scarves or bandanas.  It's not simple.  It's simplistic.  The rubber band is not going to hold up.  I may not have the means or the material to cut up.  I may not have scissors.  I may not own a bandana or scarf.  And I need more than one or two.

There is nothing in the videos about maintaining these masks.  How many people are washing their masks?  If we don't get sick from COVID-19, we may just get sick from whatever is blowing through unwashed, unsanitary masks.

Did you know you should line your masks for additional protection?  There is a video out there that shows how to do it with a panty liner.  At the end of the video, a Jamaican man is interposed saying, "Dat nah happ'n."  Funny as heck!  Hey, but wait up!  Why not?  The panty liner is sanitary.  It is made for one of the most vulnerable parts of a woman's body.  It may just work.  So of course, I tried it out just for you.  It works and works well.  But I know.  It nah happ'n.

Some tips for you:

The right way to use masks (Joseph G. Allen,an assistant professor of exposure and assessment science, director of the Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and co-author of “Healthy Buildings.”):

• Each person in your home should have a mask — absolutely no sharing.
• The mask should cover the bridge of your nose and cup your chin.
• There should be two straps, one that goes above your ear, and the other below
• How to put it on and take it off — what we call donning and doffing in my field (yes, those are the terms we use) — is also important. To put it on, use one hand to hold the outside of your homemade mask and put the top strap over your head, followed by the strap that goes below your ear. To take it off, don’t touch your mask, which could have infectious particles on it if you came into contact with someone infectious. Instead, take it off using the two straps.
• If you make one mask, wash it daily.
• If you make multiple masks, place the recently worn one in a bag and set it aside for five days (there shouldn’t be any virus left after that time). Wear a new one each day.
• Wash your hands when you’re done.

Rocking my designer masks.  See how I am matchy, matchy.  Jamaican fabric masks by Diplomacy Clothing (k.mille8573@gmail.com).  African fabric masks by Prisca-S-Art, wwww.priscas-art.com.



After surviving COVID-19, I started to write, giving birth to The Corona Chronicles, my daily thoughts and musings.  I find writing therapeutic. It's my personal journey through COVID-19.  It will give insight into the suffering, but also the goodness of people.  Heather's Dawning is made up of my first (Heather) and pet (Dawn) names. It's my awakening.  Covid-19 may have knocked me down, but it also awakened my creativity.