This curtain and face shield design is intended for the most vulnerable who must go out in public, workers in non-medical front-line roles, and businesses which are re-opening and want to keep their workers safe and productive.

‘Curtains for COVID’ could provide a significant improvement in personal protection measures against virus transmission for those who have to be in close contact with others (e.g., retail workers or those who have to travel to work on public transit or purchase groceries and other necessities).

On June 28th, 2020, the world surpassed ten million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over half-a million related deaths. Death is not the only negative outcome from a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Some people are sick for weeks, and some suffer long-term respiratory and cognitive damage. People need better, simpler, affordable protection from the COVID-19 coronavirus. The wrap-around curtain on a face-shield provides this. It’s simple, it stops the virus from reaching your mouth, nose and eyes, and it stops inadvertent face-touching which spreads the virus.

Cloth face masks are, at best, only partially effective in blocking the wearer from spreading the virus, provide no protection for the eyes, are generally uncomfortable and lead to more face-touching. They are also frequently worn improperly. Cloth masks muffle the voice and obscure facial cues, impacting communications.

A face-shield protects the mouth, nose and eyes from virus transmission from others close by. It also stops forward transmission of the virus from coughs, sneezes, speaking and breathing, deflecting these leakage jets downward and to the sides and rear.

This face-shield with wrap-around curtain not only retains the advantages of a face-shield, but improves on it by directing the leakage jets from the wearer downwards only (protecting others), and blocks inbound viruses from the front (shield) and rear and sides (curtain) from reaching the face of the person wearing it.

While the fabric is tightly woven, it is breathable and therefore reduces heat build-up, so no bulky, heavy, expensive forced ventilation is required. The curtain is simple to remove for washing and easy to reattach. The face-shield can be cleaned with a disinfectant wipe or soap and water.

Anyone with a sewing machine and basic skills can make the curtains from a pattern. The cost of materials (fabric and very small quantities of clips or hook-and-loop material) is negligible. Textile businesses could produce these in quantity at low cost. Much of the assembly process could be automated.

[Additional information available at https://www.econogics.com/c4c/ . The terms “Curtains for COVID”; “Curtains4COVID”; “curtain face shield”; “face-shield curtain”; and, “face-shield wrap-around” are copyright property of Darryl McMahon. All rights reserved.]