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Wisconsin health officials echo CDC cloth mask guidelines

Posted at 10:31 PM, Apr 03, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-03 23:31:36-04

Wisconsin health officials are echoing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control to wear a cloth mask when you leave your home.

The CDC recommends people voluntarily wear non-surgical cloth coverings over their nose and mouth while maintaining strict social distancing guidelines.

Officials say people should not wear clinical or medical-grade masks because those should be reserved for health workers and first responders on the front lines.

"If you're going to cover your face you can cover it with a scarf, you can cover it with something else," said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. "You don't need one of these clinical masks to do it."

The Medical College of Wisconsin released some guidelines for wearing cloth masks, some of which include washing your hands before and after putting the mask on, not touching the mask while wearing it, and staying at least six feet away from others.

Out on the street, some people have already heeded the advice. Simone Conceicao said once she heard the news, she put on her homemade mask for her afternoon walk.

"It's at least a way to protect, but we don't really know," Conceicao said.

She says her neighbors made cloth masks for her whole building.

Any kind of mask is tough to find in big box stores, so you may have to look on social media for people who are making them.

Children's Hospital of Wisconsin has a step-by-step tutorial on how to sew your own.

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