Columbus Regional Health and the COVID-19 Community Task Force are calling on the community to make homemade masks to help slow the local spread of the virus and protect workers who are at a high risk of exposure, including cashiers at local retailers and staff at grocery stores.
Currently, it is unclear how many masks will be needed, but CRH officials hope to get “2,500 before and through the weekend,” said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.
“There really needs to be this concerted effort across the community to help to protect some of these other workforce members who still need to be out, such as clerks at local retailers, staff at local grocery stores,” she said. “…CRH is going to be the hub for this mask making.”
DeClue said “the majority” the homemade masks will be distributed into the community once the populations who need them are identified. The masks would not be worn by healthcare workers who are involved in patient care, she said.
The masks can be dropped off at CRH’s Volunteers Services Office, 2325 N. 18th St., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday. The office is located at the northeast corner of the intersection of 18th Street and Hawcreek Avenue before reaching the bridge over Haw Creek, DeClue said. The office is not located at Columbus Regional Hospital.
