The CDC is now recommending those over the age of two wear cloth face coverings in public places where you may be near people, like grocery stores and pharmacies.

FORT MCCOY, Fla. — Across the country people are pulling out their sewing machines and making face masks to wear during the coronavirus pandemic. The CDC is now recommending those over the age of two wear cloth face coverings in public places where you may be near people, like grocery stores and pharmacies, to help slow the spread of the virus.

“We know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms and that even those who eventually develop symptoms can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms,” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its website. “This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity - for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing - even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms.”

The cloth face coverings the CDC recommends are not surgical masks or N-95 respirators. Those are critical supplies the CDC said must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers.

In a step-by-step guide online the CDC offers sew and no-sew instructions for turning a T-shirt or a bandana into a face covering.

Stella Seim, a seamstress with 40 years’ experience, is now working from her home in Fort McCoy, Fla. making hundreds of washable cloth masks.

“I was working at the alterations shop in St. Augustine, and when the pandemic came along I had to stop because I have an immune system that's not real good, and I didn't want to get the virus. I decided to stay at home,” Seim said. “I was like 'I could be making some masks doing stuff to help people.'”

She is now giving them to doctors, nurses and other first responders free of charge, and also selling them online to the general public to try to supplement her income. She’s gotten orders from as far away as California and Minnesota.

“They have elastic earpieces and then they have a pocket, a pocket that you can put you know paper or something to filter it a little more or put another different kind of a mask inside of it. This will conform to you. It has a wire on the top,” Seim said. “It can go over the N-95s for the doctors and nurses.”

Finding the supplies has been challenging, but her friends out-of-state have been shipping her elastic. It’s a labor of love that Seim hopes will make a difference.

“Please make sure you let everybody know that the first responders, I don’t charge for their masks. They can contact me if they would like one,” Seim said.



The CDC still recommends you stay at least six free away from other people and wash your hands frequently.