Designers from Las Tunas take part in the national initiative to make facial shields, with alternative materials, for medical and paramedical personnel who are now facing the new coronavirus.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- The selfless effort has already donated more than 1,500 masks to hospital institutions in various territories of the country.

William Sosa Marrero is one of those involved. He says that through social networks, colleagues from various Cuban provinces cooperate with each other to find the best designs and the appropriate materials with which to manufacture these masks to keep safe those who treat patients infected with SARS-CoV-2.

His proposal is made with micas to laminate, aluminum foil, PVC trim and ribbons commonly used to make credentials. "Other colleagues have put elastics, cords or whatever they have on hand," he explains. All, he says, are materials used in our everyday products as designers and we always take into account that they can be washed with water or chlorine in order to sterilize them.

William echoes his counterparts by insisting that it is not about standing out among others, but about sharing ideas for the common good. With raw materials in his workshop and the help of his family, he has managed to make some 100 facial shields that would be very useful for the territory, which is currently preparing to treat its patients from COVID-19 at the Guillermo Domínguez hospital in Puerto Padre.

“None of us has thought about copyright or anything like that. Who has an idea shares it with others,” he says. In recent weeks, this initiative had already borne fruit through donations of similar devices to hospital institutions in Havana, Holguín and Sancti Spíritus, just to mention a few.

Neither William nor his colleagues repair the financial income they commit by using their work materials on products they will then donate to hospitals: “What would we do with keeping them if we are not healthy? While more persons are infected, the risk is greater for everyone, including me and my family.”