Personal respirators for population level control of the COVID19 pandemic

Since the readers of this Journal were first alerted to the emerging problem of COVID-191, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus is causing a global pandemic2-4, resulting in more than two million confirmed cases and almost 140 000 deaths to mid-April5. SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by aerosol droplets or facial touching6, and fatalities are usually due to respiratory complications. The primary control measure is social distancing, but maintaining such controls will be challenging.