DIY face masks: How to protect yourself from coronavirus at home

As the number of coronavirus cases continue to grow concerningly high around the world, health professionals, as well as the general population, face an acute shortage of medical equipment.

In light of this, the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) shared how anyone can make a simple cloth face mask at home to protect themselves and their loved ones. However, this does not people need to hop on a shopping trip.

To make a DIY face mask, look around the house and find an old scarf, bandanna, hand towel or even an old T-shirt to make the face mask.

Take the piece of cloth and fold it to the middle from the bottom, fold it to the middle from top, fold it again to the middle from the bottom and again from the top.

Add two rubber bands on each side. Then you fold the other side to the middle and the face mask is ready to use!

Here's the video showing the process:

Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) had said there was no need to wear masks unless the person was sick or caring for coronavirus patients.

In a media briefing, the WHO emergencies programme executive director Dr Mike Ryan had said there was "no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit".

"In fact, there's some evidence to suggest the opposite in the misuse of wearing a mask properly or fitting it properly," the director had said. "There also is the issue that we have a massive global shortage."