Wearing a non-medical mask may make you feel safer and prevent you from not touching your nose and mouth but it is extremely important to understand that non-medical masks have limitations and need to be used safely.
Stay home, avoid all non-essential travel, wash your hands and continue to practice social distancing.
Quick Access: Advice on the use of masks in the context of COVID-19
Health Canada: Considerations in the use of homemade masks to protect against COVID-19
Health Canada is advising the public, as well as healthcare professionals (HCPs) to use caution when considering the use of homemade masks to protect against the transmission of COVID-19.
Please click the link below to read Health Canada’s full post on the considerations of using homemade masks.
CDC: Use of Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19
The link to the article below is from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States and it is for information on masks for sewing, t-shirt fabrics and bananas. The article goes through how to wear, wash, remove, sterilize and more on homemade face masks. They also provide a tutorial on how to make your own.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html
Click here for PDF / printer-friendly version
Canada Sews
Canada Sews is a community of volunteers helping create masks for COVID-19, coordinates requests from Health care providers for Masks, head coverings and gowns. They provide links to FAQs, recommendations and patterns for volunteers.
Scroll through the link below for patterns for 3 layer masks, pocket masks, scrub caps, materials and more.