The National Institute of Technology-Karnataka (NIT-K), Surathkal, has developed an economical, reusable and transparent face shield using locally available low- cost material to fight against COVID-19.

According to Arun M. Isloor, Professor and Head, Department of Chemistry at the institute, the production cost of each face shield will be a maximum of ₹12.

Mr. Isloor who supervised a team of volunteers who prepared the shield at the institute said that the Director of the institute K. Uma Maheshwar Rao handed over 300 such face shields to Sindhu B Rupesh, Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada on Saturday.

A yoga mat, a polyester transparent sheet, a synthetic adhesive and velcro tape have been used for making the shields. “Each shield can be used for at least 90-100 days by washing it in soap water or by using some four droplets of hand sanitiser,” Prof. Isloor said.

He said that during mid-March he saw his Malaysian collaborators wearing face shields made of an elastic band, which was not only expensive but inconvenient for long-time wearing. One late evening he observed his seven-year-old son playing with his small yoga mat, which suddenly made him to think that the strip of yoga mat can be used for making the face shield.

One of the important reasons for the rapid spread of the COVID-19 across the globe is lack of availability of Personal Protecting Equipment (PPEs) such as hand gloves, protective coverage, masks, face shield, etc. The PPEs are out reach of the common people due to high cost and limited supply. Due to complete lock down of industries which can manufacture them on large scale, has also add to the lack of supply, he said.