CDC: Healthcare Workers Who Can't Get A Mask Should Use A Bandana Or Scarf As A 'last Resort'

As medical staff in the US face a rising number of COVID-19 cases with a dwindling supply of protective gear, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its advice, suggesting that, in a crisis, healthcare workers could use bandana or scarves over their faces while treating patients, despite the fact that neither are proven to be effective.

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In the recently updated guidelines for dealing with mask shortages, the CDC recommends that medical professionals "might use homemade masks (e.g., bandana, scarf) for care of patients with COVID-19 as a last resort" if other equipment is not available.

The recommendation is "alarming" to medical professionals because there's no evidence homemade masks can protect against the virus, according to Celine Gounder, epidemiologist and clinical assistant professor of medicine and infectious diseases at New York University.

"While wearing a scarf or bandana might help prevent a sick person from transmitting coronavirus infection to others by trapping respiratory droplets, it is unsafe for healthcare workers to rely on scarves and bandanas to protect themselves against infection by their patients," Gounder told Business Insider via email.

The CDC's own guidelines acknowledge that a bandana or scarf tied around the face still isn't considered personal protective equipment, noting that "their capability to protect [healthcare professionals] is unknown. Caution should be exercised when considering this option." The site also advises that workers should "ideally" use a full face shield in combination with a homemade mask.

National Nurses United (NNU), a professional association and union, previously pushed back against the loosening of protective equipment standards when the CDC suggested surgical masks could be used instead of the more specialized N95 masks to treat coronavirus cases.

"If nurses and health care workers aren't protected, that means patients and the public are not protected," NNU executive director Bonnie Castillo said in a press release. "This is a major public health crisis of unknown proportions. Now is not the time to be weakening our standards and protections, or cutting corners. Now is the time we should be stepping up our efforts."

Health officials have reached out to the private sector in effort to resupply hospitals and medical staff

Amid the shortages, health organizations have considered partnering with private companies and donors to make more crucial medical equipment available to treat the growing number of coronavirus cases.

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma tweeted earlier this week that he would be shipping a million face masks to the US, along with COVID-19 testing kits.

And Tesla's chief executive Elon Musk announced his company would also begin producing respirators to help ease the deficit.

Gounder commented that this kind of public/private collaboration could be crucial to bridging the gap in supplies need to protect health workers during a critical time.

"We are at war against the coronavirus," she said. "In prior wars, we asked families to donate their wedding rings, jewelry, and other items to the war effort. We should be pleading with the public and corporations who are hoarding respirator masks to donate their N95 masks to those serving on the frontlines of this war."

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