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😷 Masks: so hot right now
🍍 Food for thought
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😷 Masks, so hot right now
Face masks are in! And for good reason.
If we won’t have a vaccine until 2021, as some say, wearing face masks in public spaces could be the key to containing the spread and ultimately allowing us to re-enter daily life, waving good bye to our sweatpant wearing, sourdough making, back-to-back-to-back Zooming, toilet paper stockpiling quarantined existence.
While Asian countries has adopted face masks since the SARS outbreak in 2003, there’s a stigma against them in the United States. Our president can’t find the words to actually endorse them.
But slowly, then quickly, we’ll adopt face masks. The CDC recently advised Americans to voluntarily wear face coverings. Meanwhile, Tech Twitter has launched a #masks4all campaign, adding masks to profile photos to advocate for and de-stigmatize face masks.
Soon, I’m hopeful there will be a wide range of face masks available — as DIY makers step up on Etsy and corporations shift their factory production.
But for now, there’s a mask shortage as supply chains are hanging on by a thread, and citizens are left to create or procure their own protection in unconventional ways.
N95 masks are the caviar of face masks.
They have the highest filtration efficiency. As such, they’re prioritized for healthcare workers. Citizens have been asked to donate N95s to local hospitals (Which leaves me wondering: Will there be a stigma if you go to the grocery store and see your neighbor bagging their produce wearing an N95?)
Luckily, it seems that non-N95 mask materials are pretty functional as well:
Since masks will be necessary for a period of time, will they become the next fashion accessory? After all, Billie Eilish wore a Gucci face mask at the Grammy’s this year, before COVID swept through the US.
Or check out this mask design by textile artist Maisie Broome, who is creating and donating masks made out of fabric scraps to her local NYC community.
And there will be plenty of other options, inspired by the likes of Burning Man to Joe Exotic.
I’m ready to wear a mask. Are you? (Extra points if you send a selfie).
🍍 Food for thought
👩💻 Startup corner
😹 Funnies
Sent from quarantine,
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