A COmfortably Vented, Indigenously Designed (COVID) Fabric Helmet to curb infection spread in Education, Healthcare and other community settings

Abstract

Considering the current scenario of Coronavirus outbreak and the post-pandemic situation, the need of protective gear such as facemasks assumes utmost importance, for the common populace, as well as in areas of concern such as community and healthcare settings. Prior reported research shows that although the usage of masks may be helpful in curbing the infection spread, a major issue stems from the lack of adherence of proper steps in wearing/taking off masks. The users touch their face, ears, eyes, nose etc. after taking off the masks, ultimately making themselves more susceptible to infection, and thus reducing the efficacy of the suggested measure of using masks. The current masks are quite inadequate. It covers only the nose and mouth, leaving room for the users to touch their face, ears, nose and eyes, which are all the vulnerable gates for the infection transmission. The masks are uncomfortable and require regular adjustment, there are problems of humidity build-up inside masks, high chances of leakage, problems with breathing, and one even needs to take off the mask for ingesting liquids, food, medicine etc. even if one is in a community setting or in a crowded region. Further, since these masks provide insufficient protection, there is an additional burden on the supply chain requirements for other personal protective gear. To address these limitations of the commercially available masks, we propose the design of a low-cost COmfortably Vented, Indigenously Designed (COVID) fabric helmet. It is designed in such a way that usage of this cheap helmet along with the usually worn cloth is enough to provide complete protection to an individual. The fabric helmet is integrated with many innovative design features that will not only address the concerns of the users, but will be comfortable, cheap and also ease pressure on the requirement for expensive, and already scarce personal protective equipment and thus greatly curtail COVID-19 infection spread in the country. Most importantly, the prosed design will serve as a very effective device in the protection of the pediatric population in the educational institutions as well as in residential and healthcare settings, as situations spring back to normalcy in communities around the globe.