The importance for safety facial masks has taken a spike since March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with social distancing and hygiene, wearing masks is now a requirement. Face masks are very much useful in tapping the droplets released from a person’s mouth during sneezing, coughing, and talking. They reduce the chance of the spread of COVID-19 when worn by maximum people. Face masks protect from both pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission. As a "source control," masks can be more efficient because they may avoid the evaporation of larger ejected droplets into smaller droplets that can migrate farther.

Hetero Healthcare has launched its first Self-Sanitizing Reusable Mask named DEFEND99 on December 11, 2020. The mask uses a self-sanitizing technology called AZI-GUARD. The AZI-GUARD technology acts as a virucidal and bactericidal when air passes through the mask. This mask provides protection from dust particles, viruses, and bacteria. It is reusable and washable.

DEFEND99 mask offers three-layer protection:

• LAYER 1: The Outer LayerIt has coarse particle filter and offers droplet resistance.
• LAYER 2: The Middle LayerIt is a unique bio-shield fabric layer that filters more than 99% bacteria and particles. The Anti-viral coating LayerThis Layer protects against 99% coronavirus particles.
• LAYER 3: The Inner Layer It is a super breathable fabric with humidity control to prevent excessive sweating.

Along with an antimicrobial agent, the DEFEND99 Mask has a germicidal and virucidal coating that offers an additional layer of protection than most usual masks. DEFEND99 is made of a distinctive fabric that gives 99% efficiency of bacterial filtration. There are flexible neck braces that offer ease to wear and remove for any size of human head. The Neck straps fit properly and provide full day comfort.

The DEFEND99 masks are available as a pack of one and pack of three’s. The pack of one is priced at INR 125/- (Rupees One Hundred and Twenty Five only) and the pack of three’s are priced at INR 299/-(Rupees Two Hundred and Ninety Nine).