The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has given new recommendations for people to wear cloth masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Greene County Medical Center Infection Prevention Nurse Heather Kinsey says the main guideline is to wear the masks when someone is in a public setting where social distancing can be difficult to maintain, such as grocery stores. Kinsey notes the cloth masks can be made from any material and can be washed and re-worn.

“You should just wash them every 1-2 days after use, depending on how frequently you’re using it. But yeah those can just be re-used, throw them in the washing machine, and you can use them again.”   

Dr. Laurie Connolly with Greene County Family Practice Clinic says healthcare professionals are using the N95 masks to treat individuals who have COVID-19, such as putting patients on ventilators or other treatment methods that deal with the respiratory system. She explains the difference between when the N95 masks are worn by healthcare professionals and the cloth masks for the general public. 

“Those masks are thought to be especially important when there’s going to be a lot of virus in the air where there are staff members present. Even in the normal medical setting we’re going to be wearing more of the surgery masks and then a face shield where we’re doing just general medical care. The public is not going to be that close (of) contact with a COVID-19 patient. They’re not going to be aerosolizing the virus.”

Greene County Medical Center Director of Materials Management Dannelle McDowell continues to encourage everyone to donate masks. She says they have received 268 masks so far and anyone wishing to make masks can follow a specific pattern on the medical center’s website. Donations can be made from 1-3pm Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact the medical center for the drop-off location.