Homewood M-burg Benefiting from Mask Donations

Homewood at Martinsburg is the recipient of some of the masks being made by area residents.

The staff at Homewood is required to wear masks and because there are no active cases of COVID-19, these homemade masks fit the requirement.

“These masks help us to preserve our supply of PPEs,” (personal protective equipment) Aimee Lozinak, marketing director at Homewood, said.

According to Lozinak, a supply of personal protective equipment of “N95” and surgical masks is available for use by the healthcare staff while working with patients who test positive for the coronavirus, but are not yet a necessity for the entire staff on a regular basis as there are no active cases at the facility.

An N95 respirator is a respiratory protective device designed to achieve a very close facial fit and very efficient filtration of airborne particles. The 'N95' designation means that when subjected to careful testing, the respirator blocks at least 95 percent of very small (0.3 micron) test particles.

So far, the mask donations have been given to the staff, but with the governor’s recommendation that masks be worn by everyone, they are also being made available to residents.

Along with the area volunteer effort, several Homewood residents are putting their sewing skills to work and supplying neighbors with masks.

“Our goal is to keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible,” Lozinak said. “We are masking to protect each other.”