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Local company manufactures ‘Easy’ protection against COVID-19

April 20, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Alyssa Parkhill

With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, specific protocols have been put into place to protect people from spreading or catching the virus, such as constant hand washing, practicing social distancing and not touching your face. Some have even taken steps to wear gloves and face masks when going out into public.

After seeing the demand for personal protective equipment for front line workers, such as police, firefighters, health care workers rise significantly in recent weeks, a local businessman designed Easyshields to help keep people safe during these troubling times. 

“My husband, Chad Blough, has a shop in Orangeville building auto parts. It ground to halt because of COVID-19 and we had no other work and were trying to think about how we can help out to fight this terrible pandemic,” explained Sarah Aston.

A first prototype was designed roughly a month ago, but some of the key materials needed to make the mask, such as elastic and foam, is in short supply right now, so Mr. Blough decided to take a different route. Instead, he chose to make an easy-to-use shield to protect not only frontline workers, but the general population. 

The Easyshield attaches to the brim of a baseball cap, and provides protection not only for the nose, and mouth, but for the eyes too. It is easy to slip on and off, and reusable, as it can be wiped down with anti-bacterial soap or wipes. The shields are made with the same material as those made in medical shields. It also helps to prevent people from touching their face, which medical professionals say is a huge factor in helping to prevent the spread of the virus. 

“We came up with the idea of a baseball hat, because basically everyone in Canada has a baseball hat. Someone in your family owns five of them, your brother or your dad, someone,” explained Ms. Aston. “It’s an in-genius invention. Let’s keep it as simple as possible, let’s keep the costs as low as possible and get it out to as many people as possible.”

Easyshield began about three weeks ago and are being manufactured in the local shop in Orangeville. The company is in discussions with various essential services such as grocery stores, hospitals, public transit and care homes, so that when people go to work, they will know they are protected using the Easyshield. 

“Everyone wants to protect themselves. The other component, is that there’s about 20 per cent of the population who are asymptomatic, meaning you don’t know, or you might feel fine but you could be the person spreading. By wearing the face shield in public, what happens when you cough, sneeze or even speak, are little droplets of water is released out into the air, that shield stops the transmission and anyone else from infecting you as well,” explained Ms. Aston.

The shields are sold in a bag of six shields for $20 and ships to anywhere in Canada. Bulk purchasing is available for larger groups such as companies and essential services.

An alternative use for the Easyshields are occupations where safety glasses are required. The shield can be used to protect the face when using  chainsaw, or weed wacking, for example as stated on the easyshield website.

They have started production this past Monday and Aston says everything is coming to plan. The company will be posting a social media campaign to inform the public about the easyshield.

“We just had to do something. This is a way to help everyone,” said Ms. Aston.

For more information, or to purchase Easy Shields, please visit easyshield.ca

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