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The former Brooklyn shipyards, from which warships such as the Maine, whose sinking in 1898 sparked the war between the United States and Spain, or the USS Missouri, which witnessed in 1945 the unconditional surrender of Japan in World War II, (1940-45), they have housed an improvised mask factory since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, to protect health personnel who care for COVID-19 patients on the front line.

Sitting at several rows of tables amid the echo of voices, the noise of chain manufacturing, and the music coming from the speakers of some of the volunteers, 160 people make between 25,000 and 30,000 protective masks a day .

It is a huge industrial warehouse of 20,000 square meters, located on the bank of the East River , which is reached after a 15-minute walk crossing lonely streets, between old warehouses converted into offices and after having landed on the dock where the a ferry that, like a ghost ship, continues its journey even though it is rarely used by a handful of travelers.

Material is lacking in hospitals

"My company two weeks ago was a graphic printing and visualization company. We were preparing to close , according to the governor's orders, like everyone, but he sent an urgent message to manufacturers to see if there was any kind of medical equipment that could occur for the crisis. A member of our staff saw a piece that uses materials that we usually work with, and we started making prototypes that same day, "says Michael Efegal, one of the promoters of the initiative, along with Michael Bednark.

They responded to the call of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio , who have been overwhelmed by this health crisis, which from its early stages showed the lack of material, personnel and space in hospitals to deal with the avalanche. of patients.

Both Cuomo and De Blasio, who recently visited the factory, have offered to buy all the protective material that can serve to protect health personnel, who have been forced to reuse their masks countless times or to care for patients without adequate protection to avoid contract the disease.

"We started assembling the masks on a Wednesday and on Saturday we shipped our first 50,000 personal protective shields for emergency responders. To date, we will have shipped a quarter of a million protective shields made in this building," says Duggal, who says the The ship hosted the printers of his company until Hurricane Sandy destroyed everything in 2012.

Since then, he had been solely dedicated to holding events, says Duggal. But with the health crisis, which the authorities like to compare with a war, the shipyards, which were in operation from 1801 to 1966 and which came to employ 70,000 people during World War II, are again producing "war material "for the" first line of combat "against the virus.

Chain work

The masks are made on small production lines , with a plastic piece that comes cut out from other facilities also located in the old military shipyards and to which a piece of foam rubber is placed so that it can be placed on the forehead, as well as some tapes to fix it to the head.

Germán Quijano , of Salvadoran origin, and who has been working for 24 years at the Duggal company, is in charge of supervising several of the manufacturing lines "to ensure that there is no shortage of material and that production volumes continue to be done." With his mask and gloves, like the rest of the workers, he describes to Efe the basic process of making the protective mask.

He also says that, like many other colleagues in his company, after he lost his job, he wrote to his boss to volunteer "to help for the cause that is happening in the nation and throughout the world." "Now we are collaborating to help doctors and nurses to protect themselves in their work in daily life," he adds.

And it is that the function of the product is to avoid that possible droplets of possible infected by the COVID-19 reach the face of the personnel who take care of them.

Most of the people who work in the warehouse are employees of the Bednark and Duggal companies that have been affected by the stoppage, although there are also volunteers who came from other parts such as Gretchen Mongrain, who became aware of the initiative and presented to contribute.

"I normally work for Harley Davidson in New York City, but it was considered a non-essential business, so I was fired from that job and a friend of a friend posted that Bednark and Duggal were looking for volunteers to help make masks. So I responded to the ad and here I am ", says Efe Mongrain, who interrupts for a moment his work of placing the fastening tapes on top of the plastic that will cover some face.

Hygiene

Before entering the room, all volunteers must gel their hands and mobile phones with disinfecting towels. They also check their temperature and should wear plastic gloves before going to work.

Without removing the protective mask, Mongrain, who has been on the project for almost the first day, concludes: "I think that by doing the masks we are doing our part and I hope it is helping." "We could welcome more people and there are more people who want to be part of this, but we are trying to make sure that everyone is safe while maintaining social distance, both in the bathrooms and in the eating areas, all to keep everyone safe. healthy, "says Duggal.

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  • WWII
  • Japan
  • U.S
  • Spain
  • Coronavirus

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