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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2020)
14 Wednesday, April 8, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon FACE MASKS: New guidelines suggest benefit Continued from page 1 and quilters around Sisters Country, both professional and amateur, sat down in front of their sewing machines with just one pattern on their mind: face masks for healthcare workers battling the COVID- 19 outbreak. With hospitals, senior homes, first responders and even essential businesses putting out desperate calls for masks, <sewist= Lori Chase, a Sisters resident, has been answering the need for more masks. Chase told The Nugget, <We are at war with a virus that is attacking our world and we need to be proactive in taking defensive and pre- ventative measures to com- bat it. Wearing a mask in the stores and post office is one way to prevent from touching the virus and transferring it to our faces.= It was Chase9s niece, a nurse at Emmanuel Hospital in Portland in the COVID-19 unit, that inspired her to start making homemade masks. <Although there is a group of us trying to reach the hos- pitals, store clerks, postal ser- vice workers and all of those who are serving us in our community, we need help,= she said. <Break out your sewing machines and teach yourself how to make a mask for yourself, your family members and your friends.= She added, <Although the hospitals are asking for ties, elastic masks for resi- dents and merchants go much faster.= Local artist Kathy Deggendorfer has been craft- ing two masks an hour. <I made a dozen for the Pete Shepherd campaign 5 day/500 mask project last week,= she said. <I have done another batch for friends and family and just gave one to Renee, owner of Fika Sisters Coffeehouse in Sisters.= Deggendorfer had her car worked on at Van Handel Automotive and offered to make some for the staff that work there and delivered six for their crew. St. Charles Health System has launched a 10,000-masks campaign and is asking for the public9s help once again with the donation of masks 4 this time, hand-sewn ones. More than 2,500 home- made masks have already been donated, and St. Charles is now hoping to get 7,500 more 4 enough to provide every caregiver with two masks that they can launder and reuse. Collaborating with health care professionals and volun- teers, St. Charles has decided on a pattern that is both functional and comfortable for caregivers. (See pages 12-13 for sewing pattern.) After the masks are donated at one of a number of sites around the region, (Sisters drop off for masks is St. Charles Family Care Clinic) they will be pro- fessionally laundered by St. Charles in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations. The hand-sewn masks are not approved personal pro- tection equipment, or PPE, which must be worn by care- givers who are in contact with a person who is known or suspected to have COVID- 19 or any other infectious disease. Tonye Phillips, featured quilter for the 2020 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, has recently jumped on the 10,000-mask campaign band wagon after sewing a few for family. Phillips said, <I do hope to set up more of a production line this coming week. I am inspired to do so for obvious reasons 4 the frontline of this battle against the virus needs them desperately! I received the newsletter from St. Charles healthcare as they are my providers, so I have downloaded one of the pat- terns they have posted. They are actually really fun to make and offer almost instant gratification. Plus, what a great way to use some of the fabrics I have acquired over the years and stashed away. It feels good to make them and everyone is so grateful. And, it feels really good to be able to do something that might actually help.= Chris Laing, ombudsman for The Lodge in Sisters, had already joined the mask mak- ing cause on behalf of Pete Shepherd9s 5 day/500 mask initiative and is now sew- ing masks for the St. Charles 10,000 mask campaign. Laing is making them with the Age Friendly Sisters Country group for the hospital. Local artist Randall Tillery and wife Valerie, a quilter, have also jumped on board with the St. Charles Health System9s 10,000 mask campaign. <There is a need and it9s something that Valerie does well that I can help with,= Tillery explained. <We are both so saddened and con- cerned with what we are all going through as a nation. Our healthcare workers should have the PPE that they need to do their jobs as safely as they can. In my book, they are all heroes. They are risk- ing their lives every day to help their fellow Americans. <We dropped off 20 last week at St. Charles in Sisters and are making more. They distribute them to various agencies such as St. Charles Hospital, Bend Police Department, Summit Medical Group Urgent Care and Deschutes County Sheriff Department.= While masks are believed to offer some protection, their use should not provide a false sense of invulnerability. With the news that federal authori- ties may recommend wear- ing masks in public, Oregon Health Authority reminded 2005 JEEP EP GRAND CHEROKEEE L LIMITED IMITED Bring us your trade-ins and low-mileage consignments! Randall Tillery is one of many Sisters area residents who are making masks to support healthcare workers. Oregonians that staying home and avoiding all non- essential contact with oth- ers continues to be the most important thing all of us can do to stay healthy and keep others healthy. OHA notes that wearing a fabric mask can help prevent the spread of infection to oth- ers when the mask is worn by someone who already is infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, particu- larly if the person is cough- ing. The mask may block some infectious droplets from spreading when some- one with the infection coughs Only $ 9,900 Sisters Car Connection 541-815-7397 192 W. Barclay Dr., Sisters or sneezes. Paul Cieslak, MD, medi- cal director for communi- cable diseases, OHA Public Health Division said that data does not tell them how much protection homemade cloth masks provide to the person wearing a homemade mask. <For this reason,= he said, <homemade and fabric masks should not be considered reli- able protection; but they may provide some benefit.= For those who don9t sew but want a mask for their per- sonal use, Bedouin will have masks for purchase soon at www.shopbedouin.com. NTED LADY I A P Antiques FAMILY-STYLE MENU DELIVERY IN SISTERS! Call us for curbside service or delivery 7-days-a-week, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Menu at SistersSaloon.net 541-549-RIBS | 190 E. Cascade Ave. Hemi, 5.7L, Dark Green 81K miles Best Price! No Hassles! CARFAX Certifi ed! PHOTO PROVIDED 541-904-0066 141 E. Cascade, Ste. 104 Visit sistersrecreation.com for updates and “like” us on our Facebook page for virtual recreation opportunities. Thank You, Sisters… Everywhere we look we see the Sisters community coming together. A special thanks to all those supporting local businesses, many of whom have had to close or restrict the way they do business. We should all respect our social distancing and continue to reach out to those in need. A shoutout to the terrifi c Kiwanis Food Bank and Furry Friends Foundation. THANKS AGAIN AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! 102 E. 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