Fitness tracker company OxyStrap shifts to manufacturing N95 equivalent protective masks to help in the fight against coronavirus
OxyStrap International Inc., a San Diego, CA-based health innovation company that manufactures fitness trackers has shifted its manufacturing focus to produce effective N95 equivalent protective face masks, which are hand-washable and non-disposable, to help in the effort to stop the spread of the Coronavirus. The company’s masks will be distributed to health care workers, law enforcement, food handlers, and the general public. Protective face masks must be properly manufactured with an effective microbiological organism barrier and also properly used to be effective against the spread of infection. Simple quick-guide instructions for proper usage will be included with the masks.
Manufactured in the U.S., the OxyStrap protective face mask is a premier quality product – carefully hand-made with an effective microbiological barrier material; comfortable to wear and easy to use. Since all the material components are hand-washable, the OxyStrap mask can be used repeatedly without deterioration of its effectiveness or appearance. OxyStrap recommends that the masks be hand washed daily during periods of usage to not only clean but also remove and destroy microbiological organisms from the mask.
Dr. Ron Gertsch, M.D., Vice President of OxyStrap International explains, “We are currently producing and distributing at our cost, non-disposable/hand-washable protective masks, which are equivalent to N95 masks. We are committed to ramping up production as quickly as possible to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus and safely reopen U.S. businesses and the economy which is being devastated at this time. A combination of practicing not only good hygiene, handwashing, and social distancing but also making available and properly using effective N95 equivalent protective masks when in close proximity to others will help tremendously to stop the spread of infection.”
Dr. Gertsch stresses that, “Effective protective masks must be made available to all U.S. workers and also the general public as quickly as possible. This will be the quickest way to enable people to safely get back to work and open up our shutdown economy. The missing link is a plentiful supply of protective masks that have the following features: an effective microbiological barrier, inexpensive, non-disposable and safely reusable, hand-washable, comfortable to wear and easy to use. The protective masks that we are currently manufacturing at OxyStrap have those features. Simple cloth masks typically made out of cotton material do not provide an effective microbiological barrier.”
OxyStrap International’s current mission is to quickly ramp up production capability to make these masks plentifully available to all U.S. workers and the general public. And Dr. Gertsch notes, “We encourage other U.S. companies, large or small, who have the capability, to do likewise so that a plentiful supply of these masks can be made available as quickly as possible. This isn’t the first infectious disease crisis that we have experienced, nor will it be the last.”
Business View Magazine asked Dr. Gertsch for his insights on how OxyStrap International, as a company, has been affected during Covid-19 and how they’re taking care of the ‘community’ at large. He responded, “Our business like so many others has been severely and adversely affected during the last several months due to the shut down of the economy, especially here in California where the shut down for many businesses still exists. The economic shutdown was a drastic action that has hurt many people, families, and businesses. Many businesses will not survive and it’s obvious that the poverty resulting from that total shutdown of businesses is having dire consequences.
“Several months ago, when the talk from politicians and the media and the medical experts was about shutting down the economy to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus, I began contemplating a simple means of safely avoiding a shutdown. As a physician and surgeon, I knew that the virus could not survive outside a living host and if we were able to dramatically reduce the spread of the virus between people, then the virus would die out. I decided that the best solution for making that happen would be to create an N95 equivalent protective face mask with an effective barrier to all microbiological organisms including viruses which would be non-disposable, hand washable and safely reusable and get that type of mask into the hands of not only all the workers but to everyone in this country. That is exactly the type of mask that we have created.
“I’m confident that if people simply wore that type of mask in public when in close proximity to others, and combined with the avoidance of touching their faces with unclean hands, that the spread of the virus would be dramatically reduced in a short period of time and the virus would then die out because without a host it cannot survive. I’ve tried to convey that message to our government officials both state and federal but without any success.
“At OxyStrap International we have temporarily shifted from the production of our main product, which is the OxyStrap fitness tracker, to making non-disposable, hand-washable, and safely reusable N95 equivalent masks for both children and adults. I have also encouraged other companies to join in the effort to provide the same type of mask that we are making at our company. The typical cloth masks are not effective barriers to prevent transmission of the virus. For any mask to be effective against transmission of the virus it must be N95 equivalent. The mask also must be non-disposable, hand-washable, and safely reusable to avoid the constant necessity to keep making masks. We will continue our efforts to make available effective protective face masks to help during this Coronavirus pandemic. Our masks are available at www.oxystrap.com .”
