ROMAN: It was really designed to get singers practicing, working together, being in close proximity without worrying so much about aerosol.

She says she prototyped the invention at her kitchen table from old surgical masks. VELTMAN: Roman's new face covering is also part of this effort. And ultimately, you need to have a lot of good testing.

You still have to have some separation from each other.

ROMAN: You have to have good ventilation. Roman is part of a group of UCSF medical experts who've been meeting virtually with San Francisco Opera staffers every week since last June to talk about what it would take to bring live opera back. Roman is a classically trained soprano who also happens to be a professor of surgery at UCSF. SANZIANA ROMAN: (Singing in non-English language).ĬHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE: That's Sanziana Roman on Zoom, demoing the new mask she's invented for singers. Chloe Veltman of member station KQED reports. So the University of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco Opera have teamed up to develop a new type of mask to keep performers and audiences safe as they prepare to meet again. COVID-19 infection rates are dropping around the country, but singing in public is still considered high risk, and that's unlikely to change anytime soon.

Sf opera mask