EDITOR'S NOTE: The original headline on this story incorrectly identified masks being made by The Original Bug Shirt Company as N95 masks. In fact, the masks are non-medical grade and not a substitute for N95 masks
POWASSAN -– Julie Gohm just bought The Original Bug Shirt Company in October, only to have it close this spring due to COVID-19.
“I just bought a business, I just bought a building and now I've lost all these sales. This is catastrophic,” Gohm recalls thinking. “I'm not a person to feel sorry for myself. But, at the same time, you’re like ‘OK, where do we go from here?'”
The Original Bug Shirt Company manufactures shirts, pants, and hoods that are impenetrable to mosquitoes and other biting insects. Gohm bought the company from the original owners after working alongside them for 30 years. It has grown over 31 years and now employs seven people at Gohm’s workshop in Powassan, selling products to a number of outdoor vendors across Canada, as well as in the U.S. and UK.
Today, however, the business is focused on creating an alternative to N95 masks.
Gohm admits she knew nothing about creating masks, but she was able to use the materials used to make bug shirts while following instructions provided by Almaguin Highlands Community Living, a non-for-profit organization that helps people with intellectual disabilities. Since then, Gohm has been making masks for the general public, nurses and Innovation Initiatives Ontario North (IION) in North Bay.
She turned to producing masks after losing many distributors due to COVID-19. Gohm says she lost one of her largest distributors and another cancelled all orders for the remainder of the year. She was unable to support her staff with her few remaining orders.
But, since switching to mask production, Gohm has hired back her staff and may need to hire more people to keep up with demand from across Canada.
The Original Bug Shirt Company's masks are made from polyester with a cotton lining. Gohm says they are able to contain moisture from coughing or sneezing.
Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Teresa Tam, suggests people wear non-medical grade masks to control the spread of COVID-19 by protecting others when they are unable to maintain a six-foot distance in public, such as on public transportation or in grocery stores.
The Original Bug Shirt Company's masks are not medical grade, but they can reduce the spread of the virus, says Gohm. A filter can be added into a pocket built into the mask for additional protection if needed, she says.
“The material prevents a proboscis of a mosquito from getting through. So you can imagine how tightly woven that fabric is. The droplets from your mouth are not going to penetrate it.”
Gohm says staff is taking all precautions for their safety; keeping a distance from one another and wearing protective equipment.
“You know how they say one moose between people, we've got like three,” she jokes.
Gohm says her staff and family use the masks in public to prevent the spread of COVID-19. She admits she’s not a medical professional but says she will do anything to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
She says wearing the mask in public is about protecting others rather than yourself.
“The fact that we're wearing these gloves on these masks, we're protecting them. And that's really to me the basis of what this is all about.”
Gohm's masks are not just for medical centres and those with immune system deficiencies
“If people contact us we will sell them to them… I know people are desperate and really do want them. For one woman, her husband is a truck driver. She wants to protect him. It's things like that, that people are knowing that they're not going to get the N95.”
While sales of the masks do not cover The Original Bug Shirt Company's previous revenue, Gohm says it’s about the greater good.
“This is not a time for companies to try to gouge and make a lot of money. That's just wrong,” she says. “It helps me, it helps (my employees), it helps in a very tiny way the government for not having to (support our employees).”
