Thank you for responding to the request by Rebecca Johnson, Dr. Stacy Horn, and others to help supply high-quality COVID-19 face masks to the Rochester area.

This list will be the main means of communication - matching needs with folks available to fill the needs.
** I urge you to accept this invitation to join.**

We will need seamsters, sewing advisors, drivers, donors of materials, etc. As this ramps up, it's also looking it could be very helpful to have writers and website techies. I'm sure other needs will be discovered as well.

We are currently focusing on creating masks from Halyard H600 for medical personnel and others with intense exposure to COVID-19. Halyard H600 is a surgery-related material usually discarded by hospitals and potentially available in copious supply from hospitals. The filtration capacity of this material appears to be as good or better as that of N95 masks. It can be sterilized and reused repeatedly (Total number of effective reuses has not been ascertained.)

Important Notes:
(1) These masks will NOT be officially N95 certified.
(2) N95-level of protection depends on mask fit and hygienic mask-wearing practices. Good material alone does not guarantee good protection.
(3) If properly made and used, we think these masks can provide a high level of protection. No one is able to guarantee the degree of protection, however.
(4) N95-level masks should be reserved for medical providers and others who have intense exposure to COVID-19. The general community does not need these Halyard H600 masks. We should all be wearing face masks when in public, and there are many high-quality masks available that will fit the community's needs well.

We hope to be ability to assist with masks for the general community as well, so we also welcome those who would like to focus on community masks.

Thank you for helping!