An Ohio mother used creativity to present a possible solution for parents anxious to send their children to school in the fall amid the pandemic, inventing what she calls a “virus veil” to help protect children. students.
In early April, when coronavirus cases began to rise in the U.S., Hilary Myers of Columbus, Ohio, tells Yahoo Life that she drew the first sketches and began working on the veil of the virus. Through trial and error, she set out to create something that could protect her eyes, which are a potential area for viral transmission, as well as keep her anxiety about the coronavirus at bay.
Now, as the fall school year approaches and the debate continues as to whether students should resume classes in person or continue virtual learning, the mother of five decided to shift her focus from making the mask for herself to discovering to make them your school old kids.
Myers’ children attend Bexley City Schools in Bexley, Ohio. The school district has not yet determined whether students will return for full-time in-person learning, distance education, or whether they will follow a hybrid plan that has half the students in school at one time, according to its website. (Although on July 2, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that Ohio schools may reopen this fall with health and safety restrictions, including disinfection of schools, social distancing, students and staff wearing masks, along with washing. and hand disinfection).
Related: Boy Makes Up A Mask / Shirt Combination For Kids Amidst The Outbreak Of COVID-19
But, Myers says, “the politicization of the masks really took my breath away.” While the Ohio state mask mandate went into effect Thursday, I still felt I needed to act.
“If people resisted wearing a mask, they certainly weren’t going to wear this. It wasn’t until it seemed inevitable that my children were going to go back to school, despite our numbers increasing, that I actually went back to school. I started researching the best materials to use and chose the most suitable design for a child to use throughout the school day, ”he explains. “It has been a long time and sometimes maddening. I am not a seamstress and some of the materials are quite difficult to sew. Seeing a finished product that I was happy with was a huge relief. “
Inspired by the beekeeper veil, Myers made the body of the veil with a flannel and satin cape. The visor is made of vinyl fabric that protects the eyes while providing visibility and does not fog. There is a drawstring located at the bottom of the veil that provides easy access for eating and drinking without removing the entire veil.
He even took his product for a “test drive”, wearing it down and admitting he received mixed reactions. “Honestly, I’m more surprised when I get a compliment. Receiving the first order was so valuable. I know it looks ridiculous. I prepared my children to bother them endlessly. I know that not everyone thinks and feels the same as me. But I am overwhelmed by all the comments and grateful that the vast majority have been positive, ”she says.
Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University, tells Yahoo Life that he believes this veil seems like a very good idea. “I think that everything and everything … should provide protection comparable to at least a mask and perhaps also comparable to a mask,” he says. “[But] you would need to do careful studies. I applaud the ingenuity. “
Dr. Dara Kass, a contributor to Yahoo Life Medical, agrees that the hood looks like an interesting idea and that more testing needs to be done.
“Unfortunately, if you open it and you feed and your hands are dirty, you violate the hood protection,” he explains. “And there is a difference between wearing a mask and wearing a hood over your head. So I don’t know what beekeepers do for ventilation, but this should be evaluated as a product to make sure it doesn’t affect the person’s total ventilation. “
Myers, who plans to have her children use it at school in the fall, says that while raising five children during a pandemic has been challenging, things could have been much worse. “We know people who are really suffering as a result of the pandemic,” he says. “Whether it’s because of job loss, illness or even death, so I personally feel extremely fortunate that our home was not affected in that way.”
Myers says that while it is unclear what will happen next school year, his family is “like many other families who are navigating this new world one day at a time.”
For him coronavirus latest news and updates, follow along https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and immunocompromised people continue to be the most exposed. For questions, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s and From the WHO resource guides.
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