Masks: Drawing the line between profit and safety

During COVID19 we have seen our NHS struggle due to not having the correct required PPE, whether they don’t have enough of it or they’re being supplied with out of date supplies the British public took it into their own hands to help the heroes of our NHS. People across the county doing their bit to supply the NHS with PPE or raise money so that the NHS can buy more. People who know how to use a sowing machine making scrubs, small boutiques on Instagram selling cheap fashion masks and people doing sponsored activities to raise money; how amazing. At the end of the day though, this should have been up to our government, but after years of underfunding and cuts to the NHS, the British public took it into their own hands when COVID19 became a worldwide public health risk.

There has been a debate sparked up against the style of masks that are to be worn by the general public when out an about during COVID19. Should medical masks only be available to the NHS? How do you make your own mask? To what extent do the non- medical grade masks protect you? When should I be wearing a mask?

The point I want to talk about is the topic of buying fashion made masks and leaving the medical grade masks for the people on the front line, in the NHS and key workers that are exposed to the virus every day.

I was scrolling through Instagram a few weeks ago and saw a small brand I follow (@peastreet), who usually make rave and festival wear, had been making scrubs to give for the NHS. A few days later they had started making fashion masks for you to purchase so that their followers can have some form of protection against the virus, using the fabrics they usually make their beautiful garments in.

The masks went up for sale and I bought 2, one for me and one with the intention of gifting it to a friend. Each mask cost £3 each and shipping was £2. Clearly not much, if any, profit has been made on the sale of those face masks.

The masks are beautifully well- made, covering the whole bottom half of your face, not just your mouth/ nose. They’re thick and not uncomfortable at all. I would have happily paid a lot more for the mask so that Pea Street could make more profit because what they’re doing is so selfless.

On the other hand, we have brands such as PrettyLittleThing and BooHoo, selling facemasks that are a thin material with only one layer of fabric, at a higher price. They have stupid slogans all over them saying PLT, or ‘single’, ‘taken’ and really cringe things like that. Please just burn them all. Their masks are £5 and obviously made at a very cheap price so people will end up profiting from the sale of these masks.

I am of the opinion that, when lockdown rules are becoming less restrictive and we are allowed to slowly go back to normality throughout the summer months that we need to have a way of still protecting ourselves. This needs to be in a way that isn’t going to deprive the NHS of PPE that they need. So, I think buying masks from small little boutiques that will be well made, non- profitable, or in some cases all profits would be donated to the NHS/ foodbanks, or making your own masks is a great way to do this. Yes they may not protect you to the degree that the medical grade ones will but at least it is a way of staying that bit safer and controlling the virus!

Here’s a little tutorial I found on YouTube to help you make your own mask!