With hospitals in dire need of masks, specifically the N95s, amid the global coronavirus pandemic, fashion designers are jumping in to help out. The catch: They still need help from the supply chain in China.
Zinntex is one, based in New York, that is reworking its supply chain to produce N95s. It can now producing 100,000 N95s a day, and it is working with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to get them to local hospitals, according to Vogue.
Coincidentally, it all goes back to China, where the coronavirus pandemic began in Wuhan. China makes most of the world's N95s and has to be relied upon by U.S. fashion companies to rework their supply chain to make them here, per the report.
Designer Christian Siriano is also lending a helping hand, or factory, because of the expertise in working with fabric, needles, and thread to make masks.
"I have a full sewing team still on staff working from home that can help," he tweeted.
The N95 masks are molded, not cut and sewn, and have far more strict regulations by the Food and Drug Administration, so they cannot as easily be made by smaller U.S. manufacturers who do not have access to China markets.
The N95 filters out 95% of airborne particles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC also says mask should only get one use to remain effective, but New York hospitals are reporting shortages and leading healthcare professionals to use them more than once, Vogue reported.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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