MIT engineers may have solved one of the coronavirus pandemic’s biggest problems

• A reusable coronavirus face mask that can provide adequate protection in high-risk settings such as hospitals is in the prototyping phase.
• Researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital created N95 face masks from silicone featuring user-replaceable filters. The silicone rubber is designed to withstand several sterilization methods, which would allow healthcare workers to reuse the N95 mask multiple times.
• The product could enter mass-production after receiving the proper regulatory approvals.

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The novel coronavirus pandemic taught us that we can’t afford to be unprepared for a highly infectious disease. From individuals to communities to governments, everyone has to do their part to prevent transmission and keep people safe. But it’s ultimately the responsibility of elected officials to understand the risks and have a strategy to minimize harm. America will be remembered for its unpreparedness and indecisiveness at the start of the pandemic that allowed the virus to surge across the country.

The lockdown delays, the scarcity of COVID-19 test kits, and the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) supply for healthcare workers at the onset of the local outbreaks allowed the virus to propagate with ease everywhere in the country. New York quickly turned into the world’s COVID-19 epicenter. These issues were fixed in the months that followed, but other mistakes took their place, allowing the illness to surge in other states where lockdowns were able to flatten the curve initially. While tests and PPE supply aren’t as problematic as they were before, uncontrolled outbreaks could further hinder the response and deplete reserves. This is true for other regions of the world where the virus is surging as well, like Brazil and India, which have been dealing with sustained COVID-19 transmission for weeks.

But researchers are already looking at ways to prevent supply issues. The FDA just approved COVID-19 pool testing, which can increase the number of diagnoses and speed up results. MIT tackled a different problem, designing a reusable N95 face mask out of silicone that could prevent PPE supply issues in the future.

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MIT engineers may have solved one of the coronavirus pandemic’s biggest problems originally appeared on BGR.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2020 at 21:08:21 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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