Shortage of N95 masks in not news. This prompts a majority of us to use cloth masks while going out during this pandemic. However, here's something about cloth masks that Simran Oswal tells us - they do not filter wet particles and end up soaking them.

This final year Fashion Designing student from Pearl Academy, however, has a solution for this. She recently designed a plastic shield that can be attached outside the mask, which not only filters out wet particles but also covers one's eyes and ears, which are also potential entry points for the virus. "This is a simple and reusable attachment. I made it out of the plastic sheets that I had gotten for my final year project," says Simran. "Each sheet costs only Rs 5 and you can easily make two shields out of a sheet," she says. adding that the shield makes a normal cloth mask almost as effective as an N95 mask.

Simran says that the inspiration behind designing the shield was her father, who is a doctor in Vijayapura in Karnataka. "Since the pandemic outbreak began, he's been busy working continuously. So, I wanted to do something to help the healthcare workers in the country. So, under his guidance, my brother and I started designing these shields," says Simran. Around the same time, Pearl Academy too started an initiative called #WeCare and started sending DIY tutorials to its students, which Simran found quite helpful. "We then distributed them to all the staff at his hospital," says Simran, who is now planning to create shields for the sanitation workers.

Simran and her brother are also creating doodles on the masks and shields, to create awareness about COVID-19. "These messages are quite simple. This was the easiest way for us to ask people to wash their hands and maintain social distancing," she says.