Times of crisis tends to bring out the best in a lot of people. As the coronavirus pandemic consumes our lives, many people are asking how they can help. A Clay County seamstress recently asked herself that question and quickly got an answer.
“I was sitting home Sunday morning and I saw on Facebook someone posted that they needed some (masks),” Renate Schweinert said. “I put it on Facebook that I was going to put my alteration on hold and start making masks.”
Things quickly took off from there. Schweinert now makes face masks free of charge for anyone in her Oakleaf community who makes a request.
“I tell you I was overwhelmed by how many people started messaging me,” Schweinert said. “Posting on that post ‘I need two, I need four, I need 100.’ I said oh shoot I need to get busy!”
Schweinert has made more than 100 masks so far. She says along with the requests for face masks, fabric donations have also been pouring in. And she may soon see an even larger number of people asking for her skills to be put to use. Initially, at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the government told the public masks were not need. That could soon change. The Surgeon General, Jerome Adams said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been asked to review its guidance on wearing masks.
“We’ve learned there’s a fair amount of asymptomatic spread, and so we’ve asked the CDC to take another look at whether or not having more people wear masks will prevent transmission of the disease to other people,” Adams said during an interview on Good Morning America.
He went on to say a mask such as an N95 would not be necessary because it could come at the expense of health care workers who needed them.
If you live in Oakleaf or Eagle Landing neighborhoods, you can contact Schweinert on Facebook through the community pages.