The fashion label Manomama usually produces fair clothing – but for a few weeks now it has mainly been producing breathing masks. The need for the masks is high because of the corona crisis, but delivery is difficult.
Clothing stores are currently closed across Germany due to the exit restrictions. There is still enough to do for the fashion label Manomama: for several weeks the team has been sewing face masks, the Manomama loudly ntv to “systemically important facilities”. The company already produces around 10,000 masks.
However, it could be more – between 50,000 and 60,000 masks would be possible, says founder Sina Trinkwalder in an interview with ntv. But official regulations and warning lawyers would prevent them and other textile companies and seamstresses from distributing more protective masks.
No masks for private care services or hospices
Manomama may only hand in the masks on behalf of the authorities – for example, the city of Augsburg has currently issued such an order. Manomama can also deliver to Edeka. However, the company had to refuse inquiries from private care services or children’s hospices.
The reason: the masks are not yet certified as medical devices. Therefore, you must not “mouthprotection” or Sprotectionmasks “, otherwise threaten Warning letters and, in the worst case, fines. This also applies if the masks are only given away.
Protective clothing is missing
Of course, Manomama could have the self-sewn masks certified as a medical device, says Trinkwalder. But that lasts – the company could only deliver these in July or August. However, the masks are now urgently needed, and there are repeated bottlenecks in medical facilities. “We receive hundreds of emails every day from pleading nursing directors, doctors and others, some of whom have no protective clothing at all.”
“I tried to publicly draw attention to the situation in which the many private seamstresses are, it just doesn’t matter,” Trinkwalder also wrote on Facebook. So far, it has also been unsuccessful with the authorities and at the political level.
How useful is a mouthguard?
(Photo: Maria Hohenthal / Utopia)
But what good is a mouthguard – has been discussed for some time. For a long time it was said that the masks could not reduce the risk of infection. Meanwhile, virologists point out that Robert Koch Institute and the World Health Organization (WHO) point out that masks, while not protecting the wearer themselves, can protect other people. Protective masks are indispensable in the medical field.
In order for a fabric mask to be used in medical facilities, it has to meet stricter criteria. Certification is therefore necessary and sensible, otherwise massively inefficient protective masks could come onto the market in times of crisis such as the corona pandemic. At the same time, the certification processes are currently a problem: they make it difficult to provide the facilities with urgently needed protective clothing. In some wards, there is only one protective mask per shift for the nursing staff. Given the bottlenecks, politicians and authorities should accelerate their certifications.
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