(Spirit Lake)-Lakes Regional Healthcare is urging residents to wear cloth face masks in the presence of others and in public settings such as in grocery stores and pharmacies.
Vice President of Marketing and Regional Services Jennifer Gustafson explains:
“We’re urging residents to wear cloth face masks in the presence of others, especially in public settings such as going to the grocery store or the pharmacy. The main reason is because they are finding there are a lot more people that are asymptomatic, meaning they have no COVID-19 symptoms, and they may be unknowingly carrying the virus and giving that to others, and so, this is a way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus by keeping the droplets contained in the mask and to help people who may unknowingly have the virus from transmitting it to others. This is a recommendation that the CDC has given, and this whole entire time we’ve been really following the CDC and Iowa Department of Public Health guidelines.”
She notes that those interested in helping make masks should contact her for details:
“We have been so fortunate that we’ve had a number of people in the community call us and ask if they could make some masks for us, and so we’ve have had quite a few people making masks. We really appreciate that however, we’re really interested in having even more at this point, so if people are interested in sewing and donated masks, I’d really encourage them to call me at 712-336-8799 or email me at jennifer.gustafson@lakeshealth.org“
Lakes Regional Healthcare notes that cloth face masks should be washed frequently, ideally after each use. A washing machine should suffice in properly washing a face mask.
The cloth face masks recommended are not surgical masks or N95 respirators. Surgical masks and N95 respirators are critical supplies that must be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance.
For more information, including instructions to make cloth face masks, click here
