Tirupati docs design low-cost face shield to beat coronavirus infection

Tirupati: Doctors at S.V.R. Ruia Government General Hospital in Tirupati have come up with a low-cost face shield to protect themselves from the droplets of infected patients.

Conceived by Resident Medical Officer Dr. E.R.Hari Krishna and Anesthetist Dr. S. Srinivasulu, the face shield can be made by affixing A-4 sized overhead projector sheet (OHP) to a normal surgical cap.

This shield can cover doctors from their face to chest so that they can protect themselves from the respiratory droplets of the infected patients. However, the shield has certain limitations. It can be used only while examining the patients.

The cost of each single-use disposable shield is around Rs. 7. Doctors said a tailor can stitch nearly 300 shields a day.

Te low-cost shields are being seen as an alternative to protective masks that are in short supply this time around. Doctors working in COVID-19 wards reportedly have not been getting sufficient protective masks.

Since there are maximum chances of transmission of coronavirus through respiratory droplets, the doctors and other staff members are in desperate need of protective equipment.

Official sources said Chittoor district administration has procured 5,000 PPEs and 5,000 N-95 masks which are being distributed to the doctors on duty in limited quantities