Joint efforts are under way to produce masks that are transparent around the mouth to help people who read lips to communicate, as well as for those working in the service industry, a mask producer said yesterday.
The Industrial Development Bureau and the Taiwan Textile Research Institute have designed the new masks after being approached by the nonprofit Dandelion Hearing Association, which works with speech and hearing-impaired people, institute research director Huang Po-hsiung (黃博雄) said.
The only transparent protective face coverings on the market are the face shields worn by people working in the food and beverage industry, he said.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Textile Research Institute research director Huang Po-hsiung
While shields are useful in preventing the user from spraying droplets onto food, they cannot prevent the spread of viruses, he said.
Association director Hsieh Li-fang (謝莉芳) said that she has been importing transparent masks from Italy at US$7 each.
However, those masks have been found to be largely ineffective in preventing the spread of diseases, Hsieh said.
She approached bureau Deputy Director Wang Li-chu (王麗珠) to inquire about purchasing such masks locally, Hsieh said.
Wang then discussed the issue with Huang and the two resolved to develop a solution, Huang said.
“The crux of the issue in developing [a transparent] mask was ensuring that the seam where the plastic film meets the non-woven fabric blocks viruses,” she said.
The team also had to use a new machine to produce the masks, whose design cost NT$10 million (US$338,501), she said.
The government would subsidize part of the funding to design and produce the masks, but manufacturers had been willing to start working on the products even before subsidies were proposed, which was touching to see, Huang said.
Taiwan Comfort Champ Manufacturing Co (台灣康匠) general manager Chen Yung-chih (陳勇志) said that his factory can manufacture 100 traditional non-woven masks per minute, but added that transparent masks would be produced at a much slower rate, as part of them must be added by hand.
Transparent masks were designed with one-third the differential pressure of conventional medical masks to allow the wearer to breathe comfortably, and they use non-reflective transparent film to facilitate communication, he said.
There are five handmade versions of the mask, and manufacturers hope they will be made for as little NT$8 each once mass production begins, Chen said, adding that the masks are expected to hit the market by the end of this year.
The masks might also be adopted by the service industry to allow for more personal interactions with customers, he said.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2