Safety Perception – Not a Medical Device by Alice Twain

Safety Perception – Not a Medical Device

no longer available from 1 source show
Knitting
February 2020
Fingering (14 wpi) ?
15 stitches = 2 inches
in garter stitch
US 2½ - 3.0 mm
one size
Flag of English English French German Italian
Discontinued. This digital pattern is no longer available online.

After so many comments stating they have actually been using this knitted mask, I decided to take the pattern down. Let me state this again: a knitted or crocheted mask not only does not prevent you from infecting others with Covid-19, it majorly increases your risk of catching a bacterial infection due to the fact that it gets impregnated by the germs you exhale, which breed in the wool fibers (which can’t be properly hygenized) and then can infect you with pneumonia or other bacterial infections. Knitted or crocheted masks are only for costume purposes.
The pattern will be reinstated once the pandemic has passed, in a few years.

Also available in French (thanks to TricoteurVolant) and in German (thanks to Hinterm Stein). I have the most awesome translators ever!

This mock face mask is not a medical device, it has no power to stop viruses and bacteria. It’s just a piece of garter stitch that can cover your nose and mouth. It doesn’t even filter out dust and smog particles. What it gives us in a few moments of time off, time we can use to reflect on what is actually going on, on how or perception of safety and lack thereof is influenced by the media, by myths, by urban legends (one that is circulating in Italy is that drinking often will wash the virus into the stomach and prevent the diseases), by amulets and rites. It is also an opportunity for us to get informed from reliable sources.

The World Health Organization has an excellent page on Corona virus and Covid-19, packed with reliable information and wise suggestions. Just read what the WHO writes and stop panicking. This disease is serious but we are not going extinct. Keeping it under control is useful to avoid flooding the hospitals with people who have pneumonia and need breathing support, and to limit its likelihood of mutating. Panic will just make things worse, though.
This pattern is free. Yet, I invite every person who downloads it to donate at least one Dollar or Euro (or local currency) to the Red Cross, either the International Red Cross (www.icrc.org/en/donate) or your national branch.

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Questa finta mascherina non è un presidio medico chirurgico, non ha nessuna possibilità di fermare virus e batteri. È solo un pezzo di maglia legaccio con cui coprirsi naso e bocca. Non riesce nemmeno a filtrare il particolato dello smog. Quello che ci offre è qualche momento per noi, per riflettere su cosa stia realmente accadendo, a come la nostra percezione della sicurezza o della sua mancanza sia influenzata dai media, dai miti, dalle leggende urbane (per esempio quella secondo cui bevendo spesso si trascinano i virus nello stomaco dove vengono digeriti prevenendo la malattia), da amuleti e riti che ci rassicurano.
Ma è anche l’occasione per informarci da fonti affidabili. L’Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità ha un’ottima pagina su Corona virus e Covid-19 (www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019), piena di informazioni affidabili e buoni consigli; altrettanto vale per l’ISS (www.epicentro.iss.it/coronavirus/). Leggete i consigli di queste organizzazioni e non fatecvi prendere dal panico. Questa malattia è seria, ma non ci stiamo estinguendo. Mantenerla sotto controllo è utile per evitare che gli ospedali siano troppo affollati da persone con la polmonite e bisognose di supporto respiratorio, e permette anche di limitare il rischio di mutazioni. Il panico invece farà solo peggiorare le cose.
Il modello è gratuito. Tuttavia vi invito a donare una piccola somma alla Croce Rossa Internazionale (www.icrc.org/en/donate) o alla CRI (www.cri.it/home).