vox--2020-04-03--Everything you need to know about making your own face mask

For a while , it felt as though every day advice from health professionals was changing about whether most Americans should be wearing face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now officially recommended that everyone should wear a cloth mask or face covering when out in public .
As German Lopez writes for Vox , “ While the evidence is limited , the research suggests that more mask use by the greater public could help stop the spread of Covid-19 , the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ show a benefit of masks , ’ Raina MacIntyre , head of the Biosecurity Research Program at the University of New South Wales in Sydney , Australia , told me , ‘ so it would be plausible that they would also protect in lower-intensity transmission settings such as in the general community.
’ ” The guidance had been frustratingly confusing , particularly in the midst of a pandemic where official directives have been inconsistent or outright dangerous , but it did lead to a spike in Americans taking matters into their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ directive came , according to the Washington Post .
The practice was already widespread in many parts of Asia , which some experts say could be one reason that areas like Hong Kong and South Korea seemed to do better at controlling the spread of the virus .
Above all , it ’ s of utmost importance that medical personnel , vulnerable populations , and people who actually have the virus are first in line when it comes to medical-grade personal protective equipment , or PPE .
That ’ s why making your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come with nearly the same level of protection — could be an alternative and possibly reduce considerable strain on an already drastically overburdened supply chain .
I will not , here , write a cute and flip line about how you probably have a lot of time on your hands for craft projects now that you ’ re stuck inside , because maybe you have kids , or maybe you have a job that does not allow you to work from home , or a job that ’ s become infinitely more stressful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ am literally a semi-professional crafter and even I can ’ t bring myself to stop panicking most days long enough to sit down and knit a couple of rows .
What I will do is answer some questions you might have about what goes into making a mask , even — especially !
— if you yourself are not a crafter .
If you have further questions or resources you ’ ve found helpful , email me and let me know ; I ’ m alanna.okun @ vox.com , and chances are this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ information becomes available .
So wait , am I definitely supposed to be wearing a mask ?
Even if I ’ m not sick or vulnerable ?
The guidance is now that every American should wear some kind of face covering when out in public , especially in places where other social distancing measures are hard to maintain ( like grocery stores or pharmacies ) and in places with significant rates of community-based transmission .
As Lopez previously wrote , the research is murky and inconclusive , but the main takeaway is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ Cloth masks ... are much less effective than the modern alternatives , as a 2015 study in BMJ found .
And they can be extra risky , since they can trap and hold virus-containing droplets that wearers can then breathe in .
But they still , in general , offer more protection than no mask at all , several studies concluded.
” Essentially , what you ’ re shooting for here is not ironclad protection but rather a bolstered line of defense for both yourself and , notably , the people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Making a mask is also not a bad idea , practically speaking , because the buy-in is quite low , and the odds of you already owning the materials you need to make one ( or several ) are quite high .
You probably won ’ t need to go out and purchase something new , and if you do , there are plenty of contact-free or online options available .
Okay , tell me about those materials There aren ’ t yet official guidelines on what qualities homemade masks must have ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something-is-better-than-nothing principle here , and that goes for your crafting skills and materials .
Jo-Ann Stores is furnishing free , precut mask-making materials for donations to hospitals ( more on that later ) , including curbside pickup .
A tutorial the chain recommends , which comes from Froedtert Hospital & the Medical College of Wisconsin , suggests looking for 100 percent cotton , like denim or percale , and not stretchy or knit materials like a T-shirt , which could be too thin .
Their rule of thumb is that if you fold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shouldn ’ t be able to see through it but should still be able to breathe through it .
Old clothes can be an excellent source for this .
I recently cleaned out my closet ( this might sound like a brag , but I assure you I did it in The Before Times and the bags of unwanted garments have been sitting in my hall for weeks ) and have a couple of pairs of ill-fitting jeans I ’ ll be using in order to make my own jace jask and probably @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Some of the no-sew tutorials don ’ t even require cutting up fabric ; in those cases , handkerchiefs , cloth napkins , or scarves and bandanas could be used .
I ’ m okay at sewing , or at least have enough time on my hands to give it a try .
Where can I find instructions ?
There ’ s a useful step-by-step guide to homemade masks in the New York Times , which can be made either by hand or with a sewing machine .
The Times also has a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ printable template for cutting out the right size fabric .
I found this machine sewing tutorial by blogger Sarah Maker to be pretty intuitive , especially because of the clear ( and oddly calming ) video accompanying the written-through steps ; her version comprises two layers of fabric with a pocket for additional disposable inserts .
It ’ s definitely on the higher end of the beginner crafting spectrum , though , so approach it accordingly — if you aren ’ t comfortable machine sewing seams and basic pleats , this will probably @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t say anything about “ sewing ” to me .
Are there less DIY-intensive versions ?
Deeply reasonable !
Yes , there are , to a point .
One thing to keep in mind is fit and proper wear — the likelihood that a homemade mask won ’ t fit you as securely is higher than with a medical-grade one , which will reduce its effectiveness , and something you ’ ve sewn to fit yourself will in turn probably be more snug than a piece of fabric you wrap around your face @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact just need to wrap a piece of fabric around your face .
In its guidance to people who are sick , the CDC recommends wearing a face mask around other people , but notes that “ you may need to improvise a face mask using a scarf or bandana.
” If you ’ re looking for something halfway between those two poles , this tutorial from an online Japanese arts and crafts educator called Japanese Creations demonstrates how to make a no-sew mask using a handkerchief ( or scarf or cloth napkin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hair ties .
If you don ’ t have hair ties , the tutorial suggests cutting the cuffs off of old socks or nylon tights , which is a technique you could use for any of the above tutorials as well .
N.B .
The music from the accompanying video is so soothing and yet triumphant that I ’ ve kept it on in the background basically the whole time I ’ ve been working on this article .
How should I care for my homemade mask ?
You should launder your mask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in between each use .
Some further guidance from Lopez ’ s initial article : “ Wash your hands before and after taking off a mask — before to avoid getting anything on your face and mask , and after to get rid of anything that was on your mask .
Don ’ t fidget with your mask while it ’ s on .
If possible , throw away masks after using them .
And if you can ’ t throw a mask away , make sure to thoroughly disinfect it with ultraviolet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have around — or , if using a cloth product , soap and water.
” Does wearing a homemade mask mean I can ease up on following social distancing guidance ?
No , it does not !
If you ’ re able , you should absolutely be flattening the curve by staying home , washing your hands frequently , and avoiding other people .
This is , again , a last-line of defense and is no excuse to FROLIC or MINGLE .
It will vary widely by medical institution ; some hospitals are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of medical-grade masks while others aren ’ t , and those policies might shift over time .
It ’ s best to reach out to a medical facility or intermediary directly before simply dropping off a sackful of masks .
To that end , the Sewing and Craft Alliance has put together a regularly updated database , called WeNeedMasks.org , of institutions requesting supplies .
While it might make the most sense and feel the most personally fulfilling to make masks for a hospital in your area , many places are also accepting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happy to be able to provide this connection , ” the site ’ s FAQ page reads , “ but will be happier when we can safely say that we ’ re closing it down because proper personal protection equipment is readily available to all healthcare workers again.
” The most triumph-of-the-human-spirit-y I ’ ve felt since the beginning of this pandemic was when I first read Rebecca Jennings ’ s piece for The Goods about crafters stepping up to donate handmade masks and other PPE to hospitals .
It ’ s not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ means ; some DIY groups , which have gathered on Facebook and across the internet , are making mask liners to prolong the lives of n95 respirators , while others are scrambling to adhere to ever-changing directives on what hospitals need .
Still , as an ICU nurse who helps facilitate one of these groups said , “ It ’ s the best we can do for now.
” She ’ s right , and that goes for the act of making a mask , too .
It feels really , really good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like you have some small measure of control in the face of confusion and fear .
It feels even better when that something might provide you , or someone you love , or a complete stranger , with a small measure of security .
Sign up for The Goods ’ newsletter .
Twice a week , we ’ ll send you the best Goods stories exploring what we buy , why we buy it , and why it matters .

For a while, it felt as though advice from health professionals was changing every day about whether most Americans should be wearing face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now officially recommended that everyone but infants should wear a cloth mask or face covering in certain public settings.
As German Lopez writes for Vox, “While the evidence is limited, the research suggests that more mask use by the greater public could help stop the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Some studies in households and colleges ‘show a benefit of masks,’ Raina MacIntyre, head of the Biosecurity Program at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, told me, ‘so it would be plausible that they would also protect in lower-intensity transmission settings such as in the general community.’”
The guidance had been frustratingly confusing, particularly in the midst of a pandemic where official directives have been inconsistent or outright dangerous, but it did lead to a spike in Americans taking matters into their own hands and donning masks before the official directive came, according to the Washington Post. The practice was already widespread in many parts of Asia, which some experts say could be one reason that areas like Hong Kong and South Korea seemed to do better at controlling the spread of the virus.
Above all, it’s of utmost importance that medical personnel, vulnerable populations, and people who actually have the virus are first in line when it comes to medical-grade personal protective equipment, or PPE. That’s why making your own — while it won’t come with nearly the same level of protection — could be an alternative and possibly reduce considerable strain on an already drastically overburdened supply chain.
I will not, here, write a cute and flip line about how you probably have a lot of time on your hands for craft projects now that you’re stuck inside, because maybe you have kids, or maybe you have a job that does not allow you to work from home, or a job that’s become infinitely more stressful now that you have to. I am literally a semi-professional crafter and even I can’t bring myself to stop panicking most days long enough to sit down and knit a couple of rows.
What I will do is answer some questions you might have about what goes into making a mask, even — especially! — if you yourself are not a crafter. If you have further questions or resources you’ve found helpful, email me and let me know; I’m alanna.okun@vox.com, and chances are this guide will be updated frequently as more information becomes available.
So wait, am I definitely supposed to be wearing a mask? Even if I’m not sick or vulnerable?
The guidance is now that every American (except infants) should wear some kind of face covering in public places where other social distancing measures are hard to maintain (like grocery stores or pharmacies), especially in communities with significant rates of transmission.
As Lopez previously wrote, the research is murky and inconclusive, but the main takeaway is that homemade masks are likely better than nothing: “Cloth masks ... are much less effective than the modern alternatives, as a 2015 study in BMJ found. And they can be extra risky, since they can trap and hold virus-containing droplets that wearers can then breathe in. But they still, in general, offer more protection than no mask at all, several studies concluded.”
Essentially, what you’re shooting for here is not ironclad protection but rather a bolstered line of defense for both yourself and, notably, the people around you. As Lopez writes:
Coronavirus appears to mostly spread when germ-containing droplets make it into a person’s mouth, nose, or eyes. If you have a physical barrier in front of your mouth and nose, that’s simply less likely to happen. ... While the evidence is thin on how much masks protect the wearer from coronavirus — since it’s unclear if the virus spreads much through airborne droplets — it’s true that the masks stop people from spreading their own droplets: When you breathe, talk, laugh, sigh, yawn, sneeze, or cough in public, you’re less likely to get droplets on a checkout machine, dining table, or anywhere else if you have a mask on. That could stop people, even those who are asymptomatic, from spreading infection.
Making a mask is also not a bad idea, practically speaking, because the buy-in is quite low, and the odds of you already owning the materials you need to make one (or several) are quite high. You probably won’t need to go out and purchase something new, and if you do, there are plenty of contact-free or online options available.
Okay, tell me about those materials
There are official guidelines from the CDC on what qualities homemade masks should have, such as including multiple layers of snug-fitting fabric and holding up to machine washing. It also suggests what types of fabric to seek out: “tightly woven cotton, such as quilting fabric or cotton sheets. T-shirt fabric will work in a pinch.”
Jo-Ann Stores is furnishing free, precut mask-making materials for donations to hospitals (more on that later), including curbside pickup. A tutorial the chain recommends, which comes from Froedtert Hospital & the Medical College of Wisconsin, suggests looking for 100 percent cotton, like denim or percale. Their rule of thumb is that if you fold the fabric in two layers, you shouldn’t be able to see through it but should still be able to breathe through it.
Old clothes can be an excellent source for this. I recently cleaned out my closet (this might sound like a brag, but I assure you I did it in The Before Times and the bags of unwanted garments have been sitting in my hall for weeks) and have a couple of pairs of ill-fitting jeans I’ll be using in order to make my own face mask and probably a cache for my unwitting coworkers.
Some of the no-sew tutorials don’t even require cutting up fabric; in those cases, handkerchiefs, cloth napkins, or scarves and bandanas could be used.
I’m okay at sewing, or at least have enough time on my hands to give it a try. Where can I find instructions?
The CDC has directions for a sewn option as well as two no-sew ones, which we’ll get to later, that calls for two 10x6 inch rectangles of fabric per mask. There’s also a useful step-by-step guide to homemade masks in the New York Times, which can be made either by hand or with a sewing machine, along with a somewhat more involved one that includes a printable template for cutting out the right size fabric.
I found this pleated machine sewing tutorial by blogger Sarah Maker to be pretty intuitive, especially because of the clear (and oddly calming) video accompanying the written-through steps; her version comprises two layers of fabric with a pocket for additional disposable inserts. It’s definitely on the higher end of the beginner crafting spectrum, though, and harder than the CDC’s method, so approach it accordingly — if you aren’t comfortable machine sewing seams and basic pleats, this will probably stress you out.
Please don’t say anything about “sewing” to me. Are there less DIY-intensive versions?
Deeply reasonable! Yes, there are, to a point. One thing to keep in mind is fit and proper wear — the likelihood that a homemade mask won’t fit you as securely is higher than with a medical-grade one, which will reduce its effectiveness, and something you’ve sewn to fit yourself will in turn probably be more snug than a piece of fabric you wrap around your face.
That said, you may in fact just need to wrap a piece of fabric around your face, if there’s no other alternative. In its guidance to people who are sick, the CDC recommends wearing a face mask around other people, but notes that “you may need to improvise a face mask using a scarf or bandana.” One of their suggested no-sew mask methods involves cutting up a T-shirt so your face covering fits more snugly.
If you’re looking for something halfway between those two poles, this tutorial from an online Japanese arts and crafts educator called Japanese Creations demonstrates how to make a no-sew mask using a handkerchief (or scarf or cloth napkin or other piece of fabric) and hair ties. If you don’t have hair ties, the tutorial suggests cutting the cuffs off of old socks or nylon tights, which is a technique you could use for any of the above tutorials as well. The CDC’s other no-sew methods uses this exact technique, with the addition of a trimmed coffee filter in the center for added filtration.
N.B. The music from the accompanying video is so soothing and yet triumphant that I’ve kept it on in the background basically the whole time I’ve been working on this article.
How should I care for my homemade mask?
The CDC suggests that all cloth masks should “be able to be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to shape” and that they “should be routinely washed depending on frequency of use.” It also notes that people should take care not to touch their eyes, nose, or mouth while removing and affixing a mask, and that hands should be washed immediately after.
Does wearing a homemade mask mean I can ease up on following social distancing guidance?
No, it does not! If you’re able, you should absolutely be flattening the curve by staying home, washing your hands frequently, and avoiding other people. This is, again, a last-line of defense and is no excuse to FROLIC or MINGLE.
Where can I donate masks I’ve sewn?
It will vary widely by medical institution; some hospitals are accepting handmade donations to bolster dwindling supplies of medical-grade masks while others aren’t, and those policies might shift over time. It’s best to reach out to a medical facility or intermediary directly before simply dropping off a sackful of masks.
To that end, the Sewing and Craft Alliance has put together a regularly updated database, called WeNeedMasks.org, of institutions requesting supplies. While it might make the most sense and feel the most personally fulfilling to make masks for a hospital in your area, many places are also accepting donations by mail.
“We are happy to be able to provide this connection,” the site’s FAQ page reads, “but will be happier when we can safely say that we’re closing it down because proper personal protection equipment is readily available to all healthcare workers again.”
The most triumph-of-the-human-spirit-y I’ve felt since the beginning of this pandemic was when I first read Rebecca Jennings’s piece for The Goods about crafters stepping up to donate handmade masks and other PPE to hospitals. It’s not a solution to the shortage by any means; some DIY groups, which have gathered on Facebook and across the internet, are making mask liners to prolong the lives of N95 respirators, while others are scrambling to adhere to ever-changing directives on what hospitals need. Still, as an ICU nurse who helps facilitate one of these groups said, “It’s the best we can do for now.”
She’s right, and that goes for the act of making a mask, too. It feels really, really good to create something, just to feel like you have some small measure of control in the face of confusion and fear. It feels even better when that something might provide you, or someone you love, or a complete stranger, with a small measure of security.
Update, April 6: This piece has been updated to include new information from the CDC regarding homemade mask guidance.
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vox--2020-04-03--The CDC now recommends everyone use cloth masks in public

President Donald Trump said Friday the CDC is advising that every person in the US wear a cloth mask or face covering in certain public settings to combat the coronavirus pandemic .
Masks should be worn “ in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain , ” such as grocery stores and pharmacies , the CDC guidance reads .
Masks are especially recommended in areas where Covid-19 , the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus , is spreading from person to person .
The new guidance is a big shift for the federal government , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Disease Control and Prevention and surgeon general , to recommend that most of the public wear a mask and only recommended them for those who are sick and people , such as health care workers , who frequently interact with the sick .
The White House ’ s recommendation , based on new guidance from the CDC , only calls for people to use cloth masks , including homemade variants .
The guidance is voluntary — and President Trump immediately added at a press conference Friday that he would not be complying : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t have to do it .
I ’ m choosing not to do it.
” The recommendation does not mean you should go out and buy a traditional medical mask .
Since there ’ s a shortage of personal protective equipment ( PPE ) , including masks , for doctors and nurses , experts recommend that people don ’ t use the limited supply of medical masks , like surgical masks and N95 respirators , for themselves and instead leave those for health care workers .
While the evidence is limited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use by the greater public could help stop the spread of Covid-19 .
Some studies in households and colleges “ show a benefit of masks , ” Raina MacIntyre , head of the Biosecurity Research Program at the University of New South Wales in Sydney , Australia , told me , “ so it would be plausible that they would also protect in lower-intensity transmission settings such as in the general community.
” The PPE shortage makes this evidence a bit harder to act on .
If doctors and nurses can ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very bad news for all of us : We need as many health care workers as possible to stay healthy so they can treat and save people who are sick , not just with Covid-19 but with other illnesses too .
“ I am worried that telling people to wear masks will strain already weak supplies that are needed by doctors and nurses , ” Jennifer Nuzzo , an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University , previously told me , before the federal government ’ s updated guidance .
“ If we are able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ d feel less worried about this .
But some of the shortages initially were due to members of public and medical staff raiding medical offices ’ and hospitals ’ supplies for home use.
” Experts also worry masks can give people an exaggerated sense of security .
Masks don ’ t make you invincible , and they absolutely can ’ t replace good hygiene — Wash your hands !
Don ’ t touch your face !
— and social distancing .
Even in Asian countries where widespread mask use is common , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ necessary to combat Covid-19 .
Epidemiological models also suggest coronavirus cases will rise if social distancing measures are relaxed , potentially causing hundreds of thousands , if not millions , of deaths in the US alone .
Still , masks do appear to help .
It ’ s straightforward : Coronavirus appears to mostly spread when germ-containing droplets make it into a person ’ s mouth , nose , or eyes .
If you have a physical barrier in front of your mouth and nose , that ’ s simply less likely to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offer may be protection from the wearer .
While the evidence is thin on how much masks protect the wearer from coronavirus — since it ’ s unclear if the virus spreads much through airborne droplets — it ’ s true that the masks stop people from spreading their own droplets : When you breathe , talk , laugh , sigh , yawn , sneeze , or cough in public , you ’ re less likely to get droplets on a checkout machine , dining table , or anywhere else if you have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , even those who are asymptomatic , from spreading infection .
That ’ s especially important for Covid-19 , since at least some spread happens when people are asymptomatic , when they have few symptoms , or before they develop symptoms .
Universal mask use could stop these asymptomatic carriers — many of whom might not even know they ’ re sick — from inadvertently infecting other people .
The CDC guidance stated that masks are primarily meant to prevent the spread of disease from the wearer to others .
Some members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more .
People who know they ’ re sick or interacting with someone who ’ s sick were already advised to use a mask .
People who frequently interact with others as part of their jobs , like a first responder or a grocery store clerk , are more likely to get good use out of masks too .
The logic is similar to why masks are so important for health care workers : Masks are most useful during prolonged , close interactions involving potentially sick people .
With the new guidance , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a line between acknowledging the evidence for public mask use — as well as many people ’ s desires to take more action to combat the coronavirus — and avoiding further strain on available PPE supplies .
So it ’ s limited its call to just cloth masks ( which can be made at home ) for now .
But for every American , that means the official guidance is to now wear some sort of cloth on the face while in public .
There ’ s some research in favor of everyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the evidence on public mask use : Masks don ’ t offer full protection — but some protection is better than none .
Masks can ’ t replace all the other approaches needed to fight the coronavirus , like washing your hands , not touching your face , and social distancing .
But when paired with all these other tactics — and when used correctly , which may not be as easy as you think — masks offer an extra layer of protection .
The quality of the research on this topic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ small , underpowered studies .
“ There ’ s not this overwhelming body of evidence that says that ’ s exactly what we should be doing right now , ” Saskia Popescu , an epidemiologist focused on hospital preparedness , told me .
“ That ’ s why there hasn ’ t been an earlier push from public health agencies.
” But the studies that do exist generally favor more people wearing masks .
A 2008 systematic review , published in BMJ , found medical masks halted the spread of respiratory viruses from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studies on the 2003 outbreak of SARS — a cousin to the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 — found that masks alone were 68 percent effective at preventing the virus .
By comparison , washing hands more than 10 times a day was 55 percent effective .
A combination of measures — hand-washing , masks , gloves , and gowns — was 91 percent effective .
A 2015 review , also published in BMJ , looked at mask use among people in community settings , specifically households and colleges .
Some studies produced unclear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that wearing a mask protected people from infections compared to not wearing a mask , especially when paired with hand-washing .
A big issue was adherence ; people were often bad at actually wearing masks , which , unsurprisingly , diminished their effectiveness .
But if masks were used early and consistently , the authors concluded , they seemed to work .
Other studies have produced similar results , typically finding at least some protective value from masks as long as they ’ re used consistently and properly .
There are some risks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make them invulnerable and begin acting recklessly — ignoring social distancing or failing to wash their hands — that could actually make wearing masks worse than not wearing them .
But if people take all the other precautions and add masks to their repertoire , as other countries ’ experiences suggest people can do , then masks seem to help .
There ’ s no good research on how masks affect people ’ s behaviors .
“ It could be good .
It could be bad , ” Popescu said .
“ But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that knowledge.
” There ’ s also a risk of improper use actually exposing people to more illness .
If people don ’ t put on the masks correctly , they won ’ t be as protective ( though some barrier is likely better than none ) .
If people touch the front of their masks and then touch other parts of their face , they can infect themselves with droplets their mask caught .
If people reuse masks , they can breathe in virus-containing droplets from the masks while putting them on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also vary depending on the type of mask .
One kind of mask that ’ s been talked about a lot lately is the N95 respirator , which is a more complex , expensive mask meant to fit more tightly on the face .
N95 respirators in theory outperform surgical masks ( which are the more traditional , looser-fitting medical masks ) , but they ’ re genuinely difficult to fit and use properly — to the point that a 2016 review in CMAJ couldn ’ t find a difference among health care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for respiratory infection , likely due to poor fitting .
Given how difficult these are to use , and the extra layer of protection they can provide , experts argue these masks should , above all , be saved for health care workers .
Cloth masks , meanwhile , are much less effective than the modern alternatives , as a 2015 study in BMJ found .
And they can be extra risky , since they can trap and hold virus-containing droplets that wearers can then breathe in .
But they still , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mask at all , several studies concluded .
Experts also offered some advice for proper mask use : Wash your hands before and after taking off a mask — before to avoid getting anything on your face and mask , and after to get rid of anything that was on your mask .
Don ’ t fidget with your mask while it ’ s on .
If possible , throw away masks after using them .
And if you can ’ t throw a mask away , make sure to thoroughly disinfect it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most people have around — or , if using a cloth product , soap and water .
Based on the evidence , masks appear to help both the wearer and other people .
The latter is particularly important for the coronavirus , since the disease can spread from those with few to no symptoms .
So whether it ’ s for selfish or altruistic reasons , there could be a benefit to everyone , even the asymptomatic , wearing masks — as is standard and recommended by public officials in many Asian countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both of which seem to have done a better job containing Covid-19 than the US ) .
George Gao , director general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , said as much in an interview with Science magazine : But part of persuading people to wear masks in these countries was simply more people wearing masks in public , removing the stigma that only sick people wear masks and making masks more socially acceptable .
That ’ s an argument for everyone wearing a cloth mask now — and medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when we go out .
Not only could that help protect ourselves and those around us , it might help instill a healthier norm for the rest of society too .
Masks aren ’ t a cure-all — and doctors and nurses need them more The federal government , particularly through the CDC , had for months rejected calls for the general public to wear masks .
Before the government announced its updated guidance , I tried to find out why — and the CDC didn ’ t seem like it was budging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shouldn ’ t the public use masks if they provide some protection ?
“ CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory illnesses , including COVID-19 , ” CDC spokesperson Arleen Porcell responded .
Okay , but why ?
“ The science says that surgical masks won ’ t stop the wearer from inhaling small airborne particles , which can cause infection .
Nor do these masks form a snug seal around the face.
” Sure , masks don ’ t stop everything , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than none ?
I got no response after that .
Since then , however , the federal government has shifted course — now recommending at least a cloth mask for every American in public when social distancing measures are difficult to maintain .
That comes after the federal government ’ s messaging backfired : As health care workers have clamored for masks , it ’ s become harder to tell the public that masks wouldn ’ t benefit everyone else .
By obfuscating and failing to fully explain the issue , experts told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toward their guidance — and the public has rushed to buy masks anyway .
I can ’ t explain the motives behind the federal government ’ s original stance and shift .
But based on my conversations with other experts and officials , it seems many people are afraid of saying anything that could exacerbate the PPE shortage for health care workers or get members of the general public to think — incorrectly — that they could ease on social distancing if they just wear a mask .
“ I fear that if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and buy masks , it will not only contribute to the PPE shortage , ” Jaimie Meyer , an infectious disease expert at Yale University , told me , “ but it will give a false sense of a ‘ quick fix ’ for protection , whereas people still need to be practicing social distancing strategies that are much more effective , though perhaps socially , psychologically , [ and ] logistically challenging.
” So as tough as social distancing can feel , it ’ s , unfortunately , a requirement for now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by masks .
The PPE shortage is a real problem too .
There are reports of doctors , nurses , and other health care workers using bandanas and scarves for masks and trash bags for gowns .
Hospitals are considering do-not-resuscitate orders for dying Covid-19 patients out of fear that such intensive , close-up procedures could get doctors and nurses without PPE infected with the virus .
The CDC , acknowledging the shortage , previously recommended homemade masks for health care workers when no other options are available .
Different levels of government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is driven by both high demand as the coronavirus spreads and a lack of supply as countries , hospitals , and individuals hoard what they can find .
Experts say the shortage reflects poor government preparedness for a pandemic , given that disease outbreak simulations repeatedly found PPE problems in the past .
Whatever the cause , the shortage for health care workers is bad news for all of us .
As coronavirus has spread , experts have talked up “ flattening the curve.
” The idea is to spread out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ social distancing , testing , contact tracing , and other protective measures — to avoid overwhelming the health care system .
Here ’ s what that looks like in chart form : The PPE shortage could make it harder to flatten the curve of new cases if doctors and nurses get sick .
But the line representing health care system capacity also isn ’ t a constant .
If we develop more capacity , it can handle more cases at once .
If capacity falls — if doctors and nurses get sick because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or refuse to work without conditions that can ensure their safety — even a flatter curve will be hard for the system to handle .
That ’ s why experts , even those who acknowledge that the public would benefit from using masks , say that doctors and nurses should get priority : This isn ’ t just about keeping people on the front lines safe ; it ’ s about keeping all of us safe .
So until the shortage is fixed , experts say that people should not compete with our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If you do have masks , consider donating them to hospitals and clinics ( though note that most will only accept unopened packages ) .
There ’ s also a new group , Project N95 , trying to connect PPE suppliers and health care workers .
Policymakers could also take steps to fix the shortage : sending out strategic reserves , funding more production , and , in President Donald Trump ’ s case , using the Defense Production Act to better prioritize PPE for hard-hit states in the short term and mandating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ term .
And individual companies could shift their production lines to produce more PPE , like some clothing and pillow companies are doing .
For now , the federal government recommends cloth masks for the general public , echoing what other organizations had previously suggested .
A “ road map ” on dealing with coronavirus by the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute , for instance , made a similar recommendation : “ Personal protective equipment should continue to be reserved for health care workers until supplies are sufficient for them and abundant .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the general public should opt to wear nonmedical fabric face masks when going out in public.
” Again , the research suggests cloth masks aren ’ t as effective as medical masks , but they offer some protection .
If you want to make your own , people are increasingly offering tips for how to do so on social media .

President Donald Trump said Friday the CDC is advising that every person in the US wear a cloth mask or face covering in certain public settings to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Masks should be worn by all except infants “in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain,” such as grocery stores and pharmacies, CDC guidance reads. Masks are especially recommended in areas where Covid-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, has shown significant spread from person to person.
The new guidance is a big shift for the federal government, which previously declined, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and surgeon general, to recommend that most of the public wear a mask. Authorities previously only recommended masks for those who are sick and people, such as health care workers, who frequently interact with the sick.
The White House’s recommendation, based on new guidance from the CDC, only calls for people to use cloth masks, including homemade variants. The guidance is voluntary — and Trump immediately added at a press conference Friday that he would not be complying: “You can do it. You don’t have to do it. I’m choosing not to do it.”
The recommendation does not mean you should go out and buy a traditional medical mask. Since there’s a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks, for doctors and nurses, experts recommend that people don’t use the limited supply of medical masks, like surgical masks and N95 respirators, for themselves and instead leave those for health care workers.
While the evidence is limited, research suggests that more mask use by the greater public could help stop the spread of Covid-19. Some studies in households and colleges “show a benefit of masks,” Raina MacIntyre, head of the Biosecurity Program at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, told me, “so it would be plausible that they would also protect in lower-intensity transmission settings such as in the general community.”
Related Everything you need to know about making your own face mask
The PPE shortage makes this evidence a bit harder to act on. If doctors and nurses can’t get medical masks, that’s very bad news for all of us: We need as many health care workers as possible to stay healthy so they can treat and save people who are sick, not just with Covid-19 but with other illnesses too.
“I am worried that telling people to wear masks will strain already weak supplies that are needed by doctors and nurses,” Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, previously told me, before the federal government’s updated guidance. “If we are able to fix that supply chain, I’d feel less worried about this. But some of the shortages initially were due to members of public and medical staff raiding medical offices’ and hospitals’ supplies for home use.”
Experts also worry masks can give people an exaggerated sense of security. Masks don’t make you invincible, and they absolutely can’t replace good hygiene — Wash your hands! Don’t touch your face! — and social distancing. Even in Asian countries where widespread mask use is common, good hygiene and social distancing have been necessary to combat Covid-19. Epidemiological models also suggest coronavirus cases will rise if social distancing measures are relaxed, potentially causing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of deaths in the US alone.
Still, masks do appear to help. It’s straightforward: Coronavirus appears to mostly spread when germ-containing droplets make it into a person’s mouth, nose, or eyes. If you have a physical barrier in front of your mouth and nose, that’s simply less likely to happen.
But the best protection masks offer may be protection from the wearer. While the evidence is thin on how much masks protect the wearer from coronavirus — since it’s unclear if the virus spreads much through airborne droplets — it’s true that the masks stop people from spreading their own droplets: When you breathe, talk, laugh, sigh, yawn, sneeze, or cough in public, you’re less likely to get droplets on a checkout machine, dining table, or anywhere else if you have a mask on. That could stop people, even those who are asymptomatic, from spreading infection.
That’s especially important for Covid-19, since at least some spread happens when people are asymptomatic, when they have few symptoms, or before they develop symptoms. Universal mask use could stop these asymptomatic carriers — many of whom might not even know they’re sick — from inadvertently infecting other people.
The CDC guidance stated that masks are primarily meant to prevent the spread of disease from the wearer to others.
Some members of the general public would also benefit more. People who know they’re sick or interacting with someone who’s sick were already advised to use a mask. People who frequently interact with others as part of their jobs, like a first responder or a grocery store clerk, are more likely to get good use out of masks too. The logic is similar to why masks are so important for health care workers: Masks are most useful during prolonged, close interactions involving potentially sick people.
With the new guidance, the federal government is trying to walk a line between acknowledging the evidence for public mask use — as well as many people’s desires to take more action to combat the coronavirus — and avoiding further strain on available PPE supplies. So it’s limited its call to just cloth masks (which can be made at home) for now. The CDC also notes that “cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.”
But for almost every American, that means the official guidance is to now wear some sort of cloth on the face while in public.
There’s some research in favor of everyone wearing masks
Here’s the gist of the evidence on public mask use: Masks don’t offer full protection — but some protection is better than none.
Masks can’t replace all the other approaches needed to fight the coronavirus, like washing your hands, not touching your face, and social distancing. But when paired with all these other tactics — and when used correctly, which may not be as easy as you think — masks offer an extra layer of protection.
The quality of the research on this topic is weak, with a lot of small, underpowered studies. “There’s not this overwhelming body of evidence that says that’s exactly what we should be doing right now,” Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist focused on hospital preparedness, told me. “That’s why there hasn’t been an earlier push from public health agencies.”
But the studies that do exist generally favor more people wearing masks.
A 2008 systematic review, published in BMJ, found medical masks halted the spread of respiratory viruses from likely infected patients. In particular, studies on the 2003 outbreak of SARS — a cousin to the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 — found that masks alone were 68 percent effective at preventing the virus. By comparison, washing hands more than 10 times a day was 55 percent effective. A combination of measures — hand-washing, masks, gloves, and gowns — was 91 percent effective.
A 2015 review, also published in BMJ, looked at mask use among people in community settings, specifically households and colleges. Some studies produced unclear results, but the findings overall indicated that wearing a mask protected people from infections compared to not wearing a mask, especially when paired with hand-washing. A big issue was adherence; people were often bad at actually wearing masks, which, unsurprisingly, diminished their effectiveness. But if masks were used early and consistently, the authors concluded, they seemed to work.
Other studies have produced similar results, typically finding at least some protective value from masks as long as they’re used consistently and properly.
There are some risks. If people start feeling like masks make them invulnerable and begin acting recklessly — ignoring social distancing or failing to wash their hands — that could actually make wearing masks worse than not wearing them. But if people take all the other precautions and add masks to their repertoire, as other countries’ experiences suggest people can do, then masks seem to help.
There’s no good research on how masks affect people’s behaviors. “It could be good. It could be bad,” Popescu said. “But either way, we need to have that knowledge.”
There’s also a risk of improper use actually exposing people to more illness. If people don’t put on the masks correctly, they won’t be as protective (though some barrier is likely better than none). If people touch the front of their masks and then touch other parts of their face, they can infect themselves with droplets their mask caught. If people reuse masks, they can breathe in virus-containing droplets from the masks while putting them on or taking them off.
The results also vary depending on the type of mask. One kind of mask that’s been talked about a lot lately is the N95 respirator, which is a more complex, expensive mask meant to fit more tightly on the face. N95 respirators in theory outperform surgical masks (which are the more traditional, looser-fitting medical masks), but they’re genuinely difficult to fit and use properly — to the point that a 2016 review in CMAJ couldn’t find a difference among health care workers using N95 respirators versus surgical masks for respiratory infection, likely due to poor fitting. Given how difficult these are to use, and the extra layer of protection they can provide, experts argue these masks should, above all, be saved for health care workers.
Cloth masks, meanwhile, are much less effective than the modern alternatives, as a 2015 study in BMJ found. And they can be extra risky, since they can trap and hold virus-containing droplets that wearers can then breathe in. But they still, in general, offer more protection than no mask at all, several studies concluded.
Experts at the CDC also offered some advice for proper mask use, which differs somewhat depending on the type of mask: Wash your hands before and after taking off a mask — before to avoid getting anything on your face and mask, and after to get rid of anything that was on your mask. Don’t fidget with your mask while it’s on. If possible, throw away disposable masks after using them. And if you can’t throw a mask away, make sure to thoroughly disinfect it with ultraviolet light sterilizers — not something most people have around. Or, if using a cloth product, soap and water or laundering works.
Based on the evidence, masks appear to help both the wearer and other people. The latter is particularly important for the coronavirus, since the disease can spread from those with few to no symptoms. So whether it’s for selfish or altruistic reasons, there could be a benefit to everyone, even the asymptomatic, wearing masks — as is standard and recommended by public officials in many Asian countries (including Taiwan and South Korea, both of which seem to have done a better job containing Covid-19 than the US).
George Gao, director general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said as much in an interview with Science magazine:
The big mistake in the US and Europe, in my opinion, is that people aren’t wearing masks. This virus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. Droplets play a very important role — you’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth. Many people have asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others.
But part of persuading people to wear masks in these countries was simply more people wearing masks in public, removing the stigma that only sick people wear masks and making masks more socially acceptable. That’s an argument for everyone wearing a cloth mask now — and medical masks once supply shortages are fixed — when we go out. Not only could that help protect ourselves and those around us, it might help instill a healthier norm for the rest of society too.
Masks aren’t a cure-all — and doctors and nurses need them more
The federal government, particularly through the CDC, had for months rejected calls for the general public to wear masks. Before the government announced its updated guidance, I tried to find out why — and the CDC didn’t seem like it was budging on the issue anytime soon.
Why shouldn’t the public use masks if they provide some protection? “CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a face mask to protect themselves from respiratory illnesses, including Covid-19,” CDC spokesperson Arleen Porcell responded. Okay, but why? “The science says that surgical masks won’t stop the wearer from inhaling small airborne particles, which can cause infection. Nor do these masks form a snug seal around the face.” Sure, masks don’t stop everything, but isn’t some protection better than none? I got no response after that.
Since then, however, the federal government has shifted course — now recommending at least a cloth mask for every American in public when social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
That comes after the federal government’s messaging backfired: As health care workers have clamored for masks, it’s become harder to tell the public that masks wouldn’t benefit everyone else. By obfuscating and failing to fully explain the issue, experts told me, officials have likely sown distrust toward their guidance — and the public has rushed to buy masks anyway.
I can’t explain the motives behind the federal government’s original stance and shift. But based on my conversations with other experts and officials, it seems many people are afraid of saying anything that could exacerbate the PPE shortage for health care workers or get members of the general public to think — incorrectly — that they could ease on social distancing if they just wear a mask.
“I fear that if we tell everyone they should go out and buy masks, it will not only contribute to the PPE shortage,” Jaimie Meyer, an infectious disease expert at Yale University, told me, “but it will give a false sense of a ‘quick fix’ for protection, whereas people still need to be practicing social distancing strategies that are much more effective, though perhaps socially, psychologically, [and] logistically challenging.”
So as tough as social distancing can feel, it’s, unfortunately, a requirement for now that just won’t be supplanted by masks.
The PPE shortage is a real problem too. There are reports of doctors, nurses, and other health care workers using bandanas and scarves for masks and trash bags for gowns. Hospitals are considering do-not-resuscitate orders for dying Covid-19 patients out of fear that such intensive, close-up procedures could get doctors and nurses without PPE infected with the virus. The CDC, acknowledging the shortage, previously recommended homemade masks for health care workers when no other options are available.
Different levels of government are racing to fix the PPE shortage, which is driven by both high demand as the coronavirus spreads and a lack of supply as countries, hospitals, and individuals hoard what they can find. Experts say the shortage reflects poor government preparedness for a pandemic, given that disease outbreak simulations repeatedly found PPE problems in the past.
Whatever the cause, the shortage for health care workers is bad news for all of us.
As coronavirus has spread, experts have talked up “flattening the curve.” The idea is to spread out the number of coronavirus cases — through social distancing, testing, contact tracing, and other protective measures — to avoid overwhelming the health care system. Here’s what that looks like in chart form:
The PPE shortage could make it harder to flatten the curve of new cases if doctors and nurses get sick. But the line representing health care system capacity also isn’t a constant. If we develop more capacity, it can handle more cases at once. If capacity falls — if doctors and nurses get sick because of a lack of protective equipment, or refuse to work without conditions that can ensure their safety — even a flatter curve will be hard for the system to handle.
That’s why experts, even those who acknowledge that the public would benefit from using masks, say that doctors and nurses should get priority: This isn’t just about keeping people on the front lines safe; it’s about keeping all of us safe.
So until the shortage is fixed, experts say that people should not compete with our health care workers for mask supplies. If you do have masks, consider donating them to hospitals and clinics (though most will only accept unopened packages). There’s also a new group, Project N95, trying to connect PPE suppliers and health care workers.
Policymakers could also take steps to fix the shortage: sending out strategic reserves, funding more production, and, in President Trump’s case, using the Defense Production Act to better prioritize PPE for hard-hit states in the short term and mandating more production in the medium and long term. And individual companies could shift their production lines to produce more PPE, like some clothing and pillow companies are doing.
For now, the federal government recommends cloth masks for the general public, echoing what other organizations had previously suggested. A “road map” on dealing with coronavirus by the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, for instance, made a similar recommendation: “Personal protective equipment should continue to be reserved for health care workers until supplies are sufficient for them and abundant. For this reason, right now members of the general public should opt to wear nonmedical fabric face masks when going out in public.”
Again, the research suggests cloth masks aren’t as effective as medical masks, but they offer some protection. If you want to make your own, people are increasingly offering tips for how to do so on social media.


vox--2020-04-03--The 11 best movies that are newly available to watch at home

Movie theaters are closed for the foreseeable future , so film lovers have to look toward streaming services and “ virtual theatrical ” releases to see what ’ s new .
Thankfully , there are a lot of choices .
Some of this weekend ’ s new releases or newly available films are among the best films ever made , or feel newly prescient in our time .
Others are already vying to be among the year ’ s best new movies .
There ’ s a satirical take on history and an unconventional ghost story , a lush melodrama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your own home .
There ’ s even an inspirational documentary about ... gerrymandering ?
Here are 11 of the best movies , from all kinds of genres , that have become newly available to watch at home during the weekend of April 3 — some for the cost of a virtual ticket , some for a digital-rental fee , and some on subscription-based streaming services .
The Death of Stalin , from Veep creator Armando Iannucci , tamps down the unrelenting joke delivery of Iannucci ’ s earlier work ( like 2009 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Instead , it serves up a more complex , almost nihilistic rendering of politics as the work of bumbling and weak-minded people who lack any real conviction other than a desire for power and position .
The film ( which is entirely in English , with no dubious , fake Russian accents ) is based on the true events following the Soviet leader ’ s death and subsequent scuffle over his succession .
Most of its comedy is situational rather than textual , which is to say that it ’ s funny because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve climbed the ladder to kiss the ring of power , you can ’ t go back down — but you ’ ve placed a big target squarely on your forehead .
How to watch it : The Death of Stalin is newly streaming on Netflix .
It ’ s also available on iTunes , Amazon , YouTube , Google Play , and Vudu .
For The Hottest August , director Brett Story spent August 2017 — a month of extraordinary heat , both literally ( US temperatures hit all-time highs ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roiled in Charlottesville , Virginia , and elsewhere ) — exploring Americans ’ anxieties about the future and , in particular , the effects of climate change .
The Hottest August consists largely of on-the-spot interviews with New Yorkers , mostly in places where cinema rarely ventures — non-hipster Brooklyn , beach communities on the city ’ s fringes that are still recovering from Hurricane Sandy , cop bars on Staten Island .
They talk about their hopes and fears for their future and their children ’ s futures .
In the background @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hurricanes hit Houston , and a total solar eclipse happens .
Optimism , pessimism , and realism mix .
And the film leaves us to draw our own conclusions about life on a planet and in a country where things seem uncertain , and hotter than ever .
How to watch it : The Hottest August is opening in virtual theaters this week , and a list of participating theaters is available on the Grasshopper Films website .
( You ’ ll receive a rental link , and profits help support the independent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) Karim Aïnouz ’ s lush melodrama won awards at last year ’ s Cannes Film Festival and was highly lauded by critics , who praised its emotional storytelling and striking images .
Based on a novel by Martha Batalha , the Portuguese-language film tells the story of two sisters who are separated by their cruel father in mid-century Rio de Janeiro .
They spend their lives yearning for one another and struggling against a toxic patriarchy .
Old-fashioned and moving , Invisible Life is a tale of longing , melancholy , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a drama of resilient women , thoughtless men , and crushingly unrealized dreams , told with supple grace , deep feeling , and an empathy that extends in every direction , ” Justin Chang writes at the Los Angeles Times .
How to watch it : Invisible Life is newly streaming on Amazon Prime .
It ’ s extraordinarily tricky to describe Light from Light , which is about ghosts and is occasionally creepy , while definitely not being a horror film .
Instead , it ’ s a meditative and moving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ love .
Directed by Paul Harrill , Light from Light is the story of Shelia ( Marin Ireland ) , a single mom and skeptic who lives in Tennessee — who , oddly enough , is a ghost hunter , even though she ’ s not really sure how to feel about the supernatural .
She meets Richard ( Jim Gaffigan ) , who thinks his late wife ’ s spirit may still be in his house , and agrees to help him figure out what ’ s going on .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skeptics and believers alike .
How to watch it : Light from Light is newly available on iTunes .
Never Rarely Sometimes Always Autumn ( Sidney Flanigan ) is a 17-year-old who decides to terminate her pregnancy .
But because she ’ s a minor , she can ’ t do it in her home state due to Pennsylvania law .
So she buys a bus ticket to New York City , where she can legally get an abortion , and her cousin Skylar ( Talia Ryder ) comes along .
Writer and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It Felt Like Love ) tells the story sparingly , favoring naturalism rather than polemics and recalling bleak dramas like the 2007 Romanian drama 4 Months , 3 Weeks and 2 Days .
But Hittman ’ s view feels more in tune with what young women face in the world , with the fear and difficulty inherent in navigating the labyrinthine medical system .
Never Rarely Sometimes Always , which won a prize for “ auteur filmmaking ” at Sundance in January , focuses on the many obstacles and menaces the girls encounter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more comfortable and safe in the world than they do — and never lets us breathe too easy .
How to watch it : After a brief theatrical run cut short by pandemic-related theater shutdowns , Never Rarely Sometimes Always is newly available as a 48-hour rental via on-demand services including iTunes and Amazon .
Onward is the charming tale of two brothers on a quest to spend time with their late father , set in a world that was once ruled by magic but is now pretty normal , even boring .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the structure of the sort of campaign you might see in a fantasy role-playing game such as Dungeons & Dragons .
But in Onward , the fantastical , Tolkien-lite elements are mixed with more banal workaday realities .
Yet its true strength is in how it portrays the love between brothers , which brings its own kind of magic .
One of Pixar ’ s most profound abilities has always been confronting the bittersweet along with the purely sweet and funny , in stories that kids and parents can watch together — and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to watch it : Onward has just begun streaming on Disney+ .
It is also available to digitally rent or buy on a wide variety of on-demand services , including iTunes , Google Play , Amazon Prime , and FandangoNow .
The Other Lamb ( from director Małgorzata Szumowska ) is eerie and starkly beautiful .
The film melds two familiar territories for horror — cults and women ’ s bodies — into one dread-soaked Bildungsroman , centered on teenaged Selah ( Raffey Cassidy ) .
She lives with an all-women cult in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and live off the grid and serve a man called Shepherd ( Michiel Huisman ) as their adored , unquestioningly obeyed leader .
Selah has been raised in this strange family , but now her beliefs are beginning to shift .
The Other Lamb recalls everything from The Witch and The Handmaid ’ s Tale to Rosemary ’ s Baby and Carrie .
But what makes The Other Lamb feel fresh is how Szumowska renders her world — in vivid colors and inky blacks , with slow zooms that turn their placid , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , precisely designed scenes make for a sharp juxtaposition with images of blood , violence , and birth .
And the feeling that something very wrong is going on here is inscribed into every exacting , unnerving shot .
How to watch it : The Other Lamb was released this week on a variety of cable and on-demand services , including Amazon , Google Play , YouTube , and other streaming platforms .
Gerrymandering ( explained in this helpful Vox video ) is the practice in which state legislatures draw and redraw voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s chances of retaining power .
Most of this map-drawing happens in strict secrecy , behind closed , barred , nondisclosure-agreement-protected doors — not exactly promising for those who believe in an open and free society .
Gerrymandering isn ’ t a particularly sexy topic , and it involves a lot of numbers and weirdly drawn lines on maps , which doesn ’ t make it an obvious candidate for a gripping film .
But Slay the Dragon expertly and methodically makes it thrilling , first by explaining the origins of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a grassroots movement that fought against the odds to eradicate gerrymandering — and won .
It ’ s inspiring , hopeful , and vital viewing for anyone who cares about democracy .
How to watch it : Slay the Dragon was released this week on a variety of cable and on-demand services ; check the film ’ s website for more information .
First released a decade ago , The Social Network was a prescient and smart white-knuckler , maybe the best Aaron Sorkin has written to this day .
With David @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the dark , glossy eeriness of a thriller , and kind of a sexy one , which isn ’ t something you would probably expect from a movie about a social networking site like Facebook — or , really , its founder , Mark Zuckerberg , played by Jesse Eisenberg .
Ten years later , especially with a world working , learning , and socializing through our screens , it ’ s clear that the movie was practically prophetic , even though it feels fixed in a very particular moment in time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about Facebook ’ s origin story .
It ’ s a movie about a generation ( mine and Eisenberg ’ s and Zuckerberg ’ s , the so-called “ elder millennials ” ) who would learn to port our offline lives online .
Within a decade , looking for a date and buying a mattress and getting dinner and doing your job and tracking your emotional health would all be matters conducted in the cloud rather than in stores , bars , supermarkets , and paper notebooks .
Today , sometimes that virtual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
How to watch it : The Social Network is newly streaming on Netflix .
It ’ s also available to digitally rent or purchase on Google Play , iTunes , YouTube , Vudu , and Amazon .
Martin Scorsese ’ s Taxi Driver is one of the paradigmatic films of American cinema , a touchpoint for filmmakers since its highly lauded 1976 release .
( One of last year ’ s most successful films , Todd Phillips ’ Joker , explicitly draws on Taxi Driver both in style and content . )
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Travis Bickle , a Vietnam vet and violent misanthrope who becomes obsessed with first a campaign worker ( Cybill Shepherd ) , then an underage prostitute ( Jodie Foster ) , and then , ultimately , his own sordid heroic fantasies .
The film was the first collaboration between Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader , who said in an interview that writing the screenplay was “ self-therapy ” : “ I felt I had to write [ Bickle ] so I wouldn ’ t become him.
” The rage of young , angry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surface .
But it ’ s also a story of a man trying , in all of the wrong ways , to find redemption from himself — a violent descent into a hell of his own making , and one that has never lost its relevance .
How to watch it : Taxi Driver is newly streaming on Netflix .
It ’ s also available to digitally rent or purchase on Google Play , iTunes , YouTube , Vudu , and Amazon .
This Is Not a Film Jafar Panahi ’ s ironically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Film would be notable if only for the fact that it was smuggled out of Iran in a cake — while Panahi was under house arrest there — so that it could premiere at the Cannes Film Festival .
Panahi , who had been charged by Iran with making propaganda against the government and banned from making movies , has been restricted from moving freely for much of the 2010s .
But that hasn ’ t slowed him down .
In This Is Not a Film , he documents his life under house @ @ @ @ @ @ @ act of protest , one that shows what it ’ s like to live in a country that views you as the enemy .
In a time when many of us are confined to our homes , living apart from one another and concerned about our futures , it feels relevant in an entirely different way .
How to watch it : This Is Not a Film is newly streaming on the Criterion Channel .

Movie theaters are closed for the foreseeable future, so film lovers have to look toward streaming services and “virtual theatrical” releases to see what’s new.
Thankfully, there are a lot of choices. Some of this weekend’s new releases or newly available films are among the best films ever made, or feel newly prescient in our time. Others are already vying to be among the year’s best new movies. There’s a satirical take on history and an unconventional ghost story, a lush melodrama and a documentary about being imprisoned in your own home. There’s even an inspirational documentary about ... gerrymandering?
Here are 11 of the best movies, from all kinds of genres, that have become newly available to watch at home during the weekend of April 3 — some for the cost of a virtual ticket, some for a digital-rental fee, and some on subscription-based streaming services.
The Death of Stalin
The Death of Stalin, from Veep creator Armando Iannucci, tamps down the unrelenting joke delivery of Iannucci’s earlier work (like 2009’s In the Loop). Instead, it serves up a more complex, almost nihilistic rendering of politics as the work of bumbling and weak-minded people who lack any real conviction other than a desire for power and position.
The film (which is entirely in English, with no dubious, fake Russian accents) is based on the true events following the Soviet leader’s death and subsequent scuffle over his succession. Most of its comedy is situational rather than textual, which is to say that it’s funny because it’s true. Once you’ve climbed the ladder to kiss the ring of power, you can’t go back down — but you’ve placed a big target squarely on your forehead.
How to watch it: The Death of Stalin is newly streaming on Netflix. It’s also available on iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, and Vudu.
The Hottest August
For The Hottest August, director Brett Story spent August 2017 — a month of extraordinary heat, both literally (US temperatures hit all-time highs) and metaphorically (social and political tensions roiled in Charlottesville, Virginia, and elsewhere) — exploring Americans’ anxieties about the future and, in particular, the effects of climate change.
The Hottest August consists largely of on-the-spot interviews with New Yorkers, mostly in places where cinema rarely ventures — non-hipster Brooklyn, beach communities on the city’s fringes that are still recovering from Hurricane Sandy, cop bars on Staten Island. They talk about their hopes and fears for their future and their children’s futures. In the background, white nationalists march in Charlottesville, hurricanes hit Houston, and a total solar eclipse happens. Optimism, pessimism, and realism mix. And the film leaves us to draw our own conclusions about life on a planet and in a country where things seem uncertain, and hotter than ever.
How to watch it: The Hottest August is opening in virtual theaters this week, and a list of participating theaters is available on the Grasshopper Films website. (You’ll receive a rental link, and profits help support the independent theater you select on the page.)
Invisible Life
Karim Aïnouz’s lush melodrama won awards at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and was highly lauded by critics, who praised its emotional storytelling and striking images. Based on a novel by Martha Batalha, the Portuguese-language film tells the story of two sisters who are separated by their cruel father in mid-century Rio de Janeiro. They spend their lives yearning for one another and struggling against a toxic patriarchy.
Old-fashioned and moving, Invisible Life is a tale of longing, melancholy, and bonds of love. “It’s a drama of resilient women, thoughtless men, and crushingly unrealized dreams, told with supple grace, deep feeling, and an empathy that extends in every direction,” Justin Chang writes at the Los Angeles Times.
How to watch it: Invisible Life is newly streaming on Amazon Prime.
Light from Light
It’s extraordinarily tricky to describe Light from Light, which is about ghosts and is occasionally creepy, while definitely not being a horror film. Instead, it’s a meditative and moving drama about loss, grief, and love.
Directed by Paul Harrill, Light from Light is the story of Shelia (Marin Ireland), a single mom and skeptic who lives in Tennessee — who, oddly enough, is a ghost hunter, even though she’s not really sure how to feel about the supernatural. She meets Richard (Jim Gaffigan), who thinks his late wife’s spirit may still be in his house, and agrees to help him figure out what’s going on. It’s an unusual, thought-provoking film for skeptics and believers alike.
How to watch it: Light from Light is newly available on iTunes.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) is a 17-year-old who decides to terminate her pregnancy. But because she’s a minor, she can’t do it in her home state due to Pennsylvania law. So she buys a bus ticket to New York City, where she can legally get an abortion, and her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) comes along. Writer and director Eliza Hittman (Beach Rats, It Felt Like Love) tells the story sparingly, favoring naturalism rather than polemics and recalling bleak dramas like the 2007 Romanian drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.
But Hittman’s view feels more in tune with what young women face in the world, with the fear and difficulty inherent in navigating the labyrinthine medical system. Never Rarely Sometimes Always, which won a prize for “auteur filmmaking” at Sundance in January, focuses on the many obstacles and menaces the girls encounter — mostly from men who feel far more comfortable and safe in the world than they do — and never lets us breathe too easy.
How to watch it: After a brief theatrical run cut short by pandemic-related theater shutdowns, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is newly available as a 48-hour rental via on-demand services including iTunes and Amazon.
Onward
Onward is the charming tale of two brothers on a quest to spend time with their late father, set in a world that was once ruled by magic but is now pretty normal, even boring. The movie’s plot cleverly employs the structure of the sort of campaign you might see in a fantasy role-playing game such as Dungeons & Dragons.
But in Onward, the fantastical, Tolkien-lite elements are mixed with more banal workaday realities. Yet its true strength is in how it portrays the love between brothers, which brings its own kind of magic. One of Pixar’s most profound abilities has always been confronting the bittersweet along with the purely sweet and funny, in stories that kids and parents can watch together — and Onward delivers on that promise.
How to watch it: Onward has just begun streaming on Disney+. It is also available to digitally rent or buy on a wide variety of on-demand services, including iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Prime, and FandangoNow.
The Other Lamb
The Other Lamb (from director Małgorzata Szumowska) is eerie and starkly beautiful. The film melds two familiar territories for horror — cults and women’s bodies — into one dread-soaked Bildungsroman, centered on teenaged Selah (Raffey Cassidy). She lives with an all-women cult in the woods, where they raise sheep and live off the grid and serve a man called Shepherd (Michiel Huisman) as their adored, unquestioningly obeyed leader. Selah has been raised in this strange family, but now her beliefs are beginning to shift.
The Other Lamb recalls everything from The Witch and The Handmaid’s Tale to Rosemary’s Baby and Carrie. But what makes The Other Lamb feel fresh is how Szumowska renders her world — in vivid colors and inky blacks, with slow zooms that turn their placid, pastoral lives into something uncanny. Chilly, precisely designed scenes make for a sharp juxtaposition with images of blood, violence, and birth. And the feeling that something very wrong is going on here is inscribed into every exacting, unnerving shot.
How to watch it: The Other Lamb was released this week on a variety of cable and on-demand services, including Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, and other streaming platforms.
Slay the Dragon
Gerrymandering (explained in this helpful Vox video) is the practice in which state legislatures draw and redraw voting districts in order to maximize their party’s chances of retaining power. Most of this map-drawing happens in strict secrecy, behind closed, barred, nondisclosure-agreement-protected doors — not exactly promising for those who believe in an open and free society.
Gerrymandering isn’t a particularly sexy topic, and it involves a lot of numbers and weirdly drawn lines on maps, which doesn’t make it an obvious candidate for a gripping film. But Slay the Dragon expertly and methodically makes it thrilling, first by explaining the origins of the practice and then by telling the story of a grassroots movement that fought against the odds to eradicate gerrymandering — and won. It’s inspiring, hopeful, and vital viewing for anyone who cares about democracy.
How to watch it: Slay the Dragon was released this week on a variety of cable and on-demand services; check the film’s website for more information.
The Social Network
First released a decade ago, The Social Network was a prescient and smart white-knuckler, maybe the best Aaron Sorkin has written to this day. With David Fincher at the helm, it took on the dark, glossy eeriness of a thriller, and kind of a sexy one, which isn’t something you would probably expect from a movie about a social networking site like Facebook — or, really, its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg.
Ten years later, especially with a world working, learning, and socializing through our screens, it’s clear that the movie was practically prophetic, even though it feels fixed in a very particular moment in time. The Social Network is not just about Facebook’s origin story. It’s a movie about a generation (mine and Eisenberg’s and Zuckerberg’s, the so-called “elder millennials”) who would learn to port our offline lives online. Within a decade, looking for a date and buying a mattress and getting dinner and doing your job and tracking your emotional health would all be matters conducted in the cloud rather than in stores, bars, supermarkets, and paper notebooks. Today, sometimes that virtual life seems like all we have left.
How to watch it: The Social Network is newly streaming on Netflix. It’s also available to digitally rent or purchase on Google Play, iTunes, YouTube, Vudu, and Amazon.
Taxi Driver
Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver is one of the paradigmatic films of American cinema, a touchpoint for filmmakers since its highly lauded 1976 release. (One of last year’s most successful films, Todd Phillips’ Joker, explicitly draws on Taxi Driver both in style and content.) Robert De Niro plays delusional self-styled vigilante Travis Bickle, a Vietnam vet and violent misanthrope who becomes obsessed with first a campaign worker (Cybill Shepherd), then an underage prostitute (Jodie Foster), and then, ultimately, his own sordid heroic fantasies.
The film was the first collaboration between Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader, who said in an interview that writing the screenplay was “self-therapy”: “I felt I had to write [Bickle] so I wouldn’t become him.” The rage of young, angry men certainly simmers under Bickle’s surface. But it’s also a story of a man trying, in all of the wrong ways, to find redemption from himself — a violent descent into a hell of his own making, and one that has never lost its relevance.
How to watch it: Taxi Driver is newly streaming on Netflix. It’s also available to digitally rent or purchase on Google Play, iTunes, YouTube, Vudu, and Amazon.
This Is Not a Film
Jafar Panahi’s ironically titled 2012 documentary This Is Not a Film would be notable if only for the fact that it was smuggled out of Iran in a cake — while Panahi was under house arrest there — so that it could premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Panahi, who had been charged by Iran with making propaganda against the government and banned from making movies, has been restricted from moving freely for much of the 2010s.
But that hasn’t slowed him down. In This Is Not a Film, he documents his life under house arrest. It’s a radical act of protest, one that shows what it’s like to live in a country that views you as the enemy. In a time when many of us are confined to our homes, living apart from one another and concerned about our futures, it feels relevant in an entirely different way.
How to watch it: This Is Not a Film is newly streaming on the Criterion Channel.


vox--2020-04-03--Disney sets new release dates for Mulan and Black Widow, adds Captain Marvel 2 in 2022

Disney put several of its buzziest movies this year into an indefinite holding pattern earlier this month in response to the coronavirus pandemic , including the live-action Mulan remake ( originally scheduled for March ) and Marvel ’ s Black Widow ( May ) .
On Friday , the company announced new dates for those postponed movies , and made greater changes to the rest of its movie release schedule for the many months ahead .
Among those big changes come new dates for those big tentpole films : Mulan will now be released on July 24 , 2020 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 6 , 2020 .
Moving Black Widow to a November release date impacts the rest of the Marvel ’ s release date , otherwise known as its Phase 4 set of films .
Now that Black Widow will come out in November , Marvel ’ s new superhero movie The Eternals , which was originally scheduled to release that same date , will move to February 12 , 2021 .
That has created a domino effect for Marvel ’ s schedule , pushing everything back a few months : Shang-Chi and the Legend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on May 7 , 2021 ; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on November 5 , 2021 ; and Thor : Love and Thunder on February 18 , 2022 .
Black Panther 2 will stick to its May 6 , 2022 , release date , while the Captain Marvel sequel — which didn ’ t have an official release date before — is now slotted for July 8 , 2022 .
Disney has also delayed other films to accommodate all the scheduling shifts .
Dwayne “ The Rock ” Johnson-vehicle Jungle Cruise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ based on the Disney theme park ride , now won ’ t see release until the following summer , on July 21 , 2021 .
The French Dispatch from Wes Anderson — distributed by Disney ’ s newly owned Searchlight Pictures studio — has moved from July 24 to October 16 .
And most intriguingly , Disney ’ s Artemis Fowl adaptation will now launch exclusively on Disney+ instead of coming to theaters in August .
These movies were scheduled to open during the spring and summer of 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the entertainment industry .
For about a decade now , Marvel has maintained a strategy of releasing two-to-three new superhero movies per year .
Those movies are often interconnected with one another to tell a bigger , more sweeping that culminates in a team-up adventure like 2019 ’ s Avengers : Endgame .
Moving a movie back impacts the rest of the movies in the pipeline , as does the current coronavirus pandemic since travel and production is at a standstill .
It ’ s important to remember that there ’ s no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over by the time these new dates roll along .
The United States has achieved the grim statistic of having the most confirmed coronavirus cases in the world , while China , which reported that it has weathered the pandemic since it the virus first broke out late last year , shut down its movie theaters this month — a move that insiders believe indicates that the government is worried about a second wave of cases .
These moves are testaments to just how fragile and volatile the current situation is .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rest of the world ’ s industries .
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings : May 7 , 2021 • Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness : November 5 , 2021

Disney put several of its buzziest movies this year into an indefinite holding pattern earlier this month in response to the coronavirus pandemic, including the live-action Mulan remake (originally scheduled for March) and Marvel’s Black Widow (May). On Friday, the company announced new dates for those postponed movies, and made greater changes to the rest of its movie release schedule for the many months ahead.
Among those big changes come new dates for those big tentpole films: Mulan will now be released on July 24, 2020, and Black Widow will open on November 6, 2020.
Moving Black Widow to a November release date impacts the rest of the Marvel’s release date, otherwise known as its Phase 4 set of films. Now that Black Widow will come out in November, Marvel’s new superhero movie The Eternals, which was originally scheduled to release that same date, will move to February 12, 2021.
That has created a domino effect for Marvel’s schedule, pushing everything back a few months: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be released on May 7, 2021; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on November 5, 2021; and Thor: Love and Thunder on February 18, 2022. Black Panther 2 will stick to its May 6, 2022, release date, while the Captain Marvel sequel — which didn’t have an official release date before — is now slotted for July 8, 2022.
Disney has also delayed other films to accommodate all the scheduling shifts. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson-vehicle Jungle Cruise, slated to open July 24 and based on the Disney theme park ride, now won’t see release until the following summer, on July 21, 2021. The French Dispatch from Wes Anderson — distributed by Disney’s newly owned Searchlight Pictures studio — has moved from July 24 to October 16. And most intriguingly, Disney’s Artemis Fowl adaptation will now launch exclusively on Disney+ instead of coming to theaters in August.
These movies were scheduled to open during the spring and summer of 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic spread to the United States and upended the entertainment industry.
For about a decade now, Marvel has maintained a strategy of releasing two-to-three new superhero movies per year. Those movies are often interconnected with one another to tell a bigger, more sweeping that culminates in a team-up adventure like 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Moving a movie back impacts the rest of the movies in the pipeline, as does the current coronavirus pandemic since travel and production is at a standstill.
It’s important to remember that there’s no guarantee that the coronavirus pandemic will be over by the time these new dates roll along.
The United States has achieved the grim statistic of having the most confirmed coronavirus cases in the world, while China, which reported that it has weathered the pandemic since it the virus first broke out late last year, shut down its movie theaters this month — a move that insiders believe indicates that the government is worried about a second wave of cases. These moves are testaments to just how fragile and volatile the current situation is. The same goes for movies, and the rest of the world’s industries.
Here’s Marvel’s Phase 4 scheduled post-coronavirus pandemic release calendar