Pictures of people using DIY masks emerge online, shortage hits different regions
Coronavirus hit different parts of the world, people are improvising to protect themselves
With the Coronavirus, which originated in China’s Wuhan city, hitting different parts of the globe, people are taking all measures to protect themselves.
Amidst the lists of ways to keep oneself from being infected popping up online, pictures of people wearing masks and creating DIY versions have emerged from around the world.
Some people are using everyday items to cover their mouths and noses in hopes of protecting themselves from the virus that has killed over 100 people so far.
Tweeps have shared images of people covering their heads with water bottles and cans.
Twitter user @seanglavin shared two such pictures and claimed that they are from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and wrote: “@yvrairport I thought I had seen it all #coronavirus”
Similarly, user @GalLuft tweeted a picture of a man in a market with a water can over his head and wrote: “No wonder people are collapsing in the streets. How can you get oxygen into your brain wearing both a mask and a plastic bottle? #coronavirus”
User @mirror0002 tweeted an image of women using fruit peels to cover their mouth allegedly from the Chinese province of Sichuan: “The latest anti-Coronavirus mask in rural area of Sichuan China.”
Mask shortage
While people using DIY masks to limit the spread of Coronavirus attracted quirky remarks online, the improvising seems to be due a shortage of masks available in the market.
A report from the CTV News Toronto website stated that Toronto pharmacies are selling out of surgical masks and hand sanitizer after the news of the virus spread.
Similar reports have also come out of the US, China and other parts of the world.
Tweep @startup_nomad shared an image apparently from Singapore: “Happening in Singapore. Long queue to buy mask. #coronavirus most stores are sold out of mask.”