SACRAMENTO, Calif. — There is a massive shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) at medical facilities across the county as medical professionals fight on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, a professional seamstress in Sacramento is joining hundreds across the nation volunteering to help sew masks and sure up the supply of face coverings for healthcare workers.
Nancy LaRocque, 68, will work with a group of friends and volunteers to sew the face coverings. The initial set of masks will go to nurses at the Sutter Roseville Medical Center in Roseville.
"I can't imagine how the nurses must feel being there, literally on the front lines," LaRocque said. "It's not war but it's a war against a disease — a deadly disease."
LaRocque, a retired U.S. Navy officer and former children's fashion designer, has spent a lot her time volunteering for groups like the Salvation Army. Now, she plans to put her talents as a seamstress to good use.
She said she's alarmed her that nurses are going into their jobs without masks. So if there is something she can do to help, that's what she'll do.
"Without being able to wear a mask, it’s incredibly dangerous,” LaRocque said.
The novel coronavirus is spread by respiratory droplets through coughing or sneezing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While these masks won't protect people from particles that are already in the air, if worn by a person carrying the virus, it may help prevent the spread of the illness by catching their respiratory droplets, health officials say.
On Friday, the CDC announced new recommendations for Americans to wear non-medical cloth face coverings while out in public. The CDC warned that the coverings do not replace the need for social distancing but may help prevent the spread of the virus.
The voluntary guidelines come as health officials learn more about the novel coronavirus, White House officials announced Friday.
Nurses at the Sutter Roseville Medical Center have recently raised concerns about the health and safety of medical staff and patients over a short of PPE at the hospital.
Nurses held a candlelight vigil in front of the hospital Wednesday, a show of solidarity in demanding that the hospital provide all nurses with N-95 masks, which can protect from the viral infection.
Hospital officials said they're following infection protocols that were implemented to reduce the risk of exposure. Those protocols include separating coronavirus and non-coronavirus patients, providing daily masks to healthcare workers and doing mandatory temperature checks for employees.
Meanwhile, at UC Davis Medical Center, several healthcare workers tested positive for the coronavirus weeks ago while being in the community, prompting hospital officials to warn that "many members" were likely to do the same.
Nearly 10,701 people in California have tested positive for COVID-19, and 237 people have died from the virus, according to state health officials. The number of cases are only expected to rise as the state has nearly 60,000 tests pending inside of commercial, state and private labs. The state has so far tested 94,800 people.
So far, 156 healthcare workers have tested positive in California.
Elsewhere, the Northern California branch of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will soon require its staff to wear similar masks at its 12 healthcare facilities, a spokesperson said on Friday.
The VA is calling on community members across the region to sew and donate masks to help keep their staff and Veterans safe.
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"To fight the coronavirus, we need the right tools, so we're asking the community to make and donate masks," said VA NorCal Director David Stockwell. "While homemade masks can never replace N-95 or surgical masks used by our clinical staff, they can help reduce the risk of staff who might unknowingly be carriers from infecting one another or our patients."
Face coverings do not offer full protection for nurses and doctors, nor do they offer the same protection as the N-95 mask. But they do create barrier that is better than nothing, said critical care nurse Renee Altaffer who works at the Sutter Roseville Medical Center.
"If it's worn properly, if it fits on your face well, it might be one more layer towards that [protection]," Altaffer said.
These are not the types of masks that would be used in an isolation room for instance, Altaffer said. However, these masks can be distributed to all medical professionals and used as an additional layer of protection for themselves and their patients.
The additional support and volunteerism has been tremendous for healthcare workers at Sutter Roseville who have already received donations of food and masks, Altaffer said.
Altaffer encourages people to consider reaching out to other organizations that are continuing to operating as essential businesses in communities — like local grocery stores — to ask what help they might need.
"It just really shows the spirit of the community that we live in," Altaffer said.
Follow the conversation on Facebook with Giacomo Luca.
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