There have been wide-spread reports of shortages of personal protective equipment such as face masks in U.S. hospitals and health-care facilities as the coronavirus pandemic has worsened. In response, dozens of fashion and apparel companies have begun sharing patterns and materials and redirecting labor and manufacturing resources to quickly produce PPE replacements. These manufacturers, brands and designers across the globe have joined an army of individual citizen sewers working at their homes to help produce urgently needed equipment for our health-care workers on the front lines. We are all grateful for these efforts.
The Face Mask Shortage
The individual citizens and fashion industry employees who are creating face masks around the globe are making a heroic and heartening effort to alleviate shortages. The trouble with the homemade masks is that, if they’re made with regular fabrics available to most consumers, they’re not considered medical grade, or PPE. On March 17, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the following about the use of homemade masks by health-care personnel, or HCP:
“In settings where face masks are not available, HCP might use homemade masks [e.g., bandana, scarf] for care of patients with COVID-19 as a last resort. However, homemade masks are

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