The Berrien County Health Department has shared a message on its Facebook page regarding the use of masks to protect against COVID-19. The department released the following statement on Saturday morning:
Breaking New COVID-19 Guidance: The CDC now recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.
We now know from recent studies that a portion of individuals with #COVID19 don’t have symptoms (“asymptomatic”) and that even those who eventually develop symptoms (“pre-symptomatic”) can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms. This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity—for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing—even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms.
It is critical to emphasize that maintaining 6-feet social distancing remains important to slowing the spread of the virus. CDC is additionally advising the use of simple cloth face coverings to slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others.
The cloth face coverings recommended are not surgical masks or N-95 respirators. Those are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current CDC guidance.
Read more on the new recommendations: https://www.cdc.gov/…/prevent…/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html
Watch this video for a DIY homemade mask tutorial: https://youtu.be/tPx1yqvJgf4
