China News Service, December 17th. According to the US "World Journal" report, students, graduates and volunteers of the University of California at Berkeley launched a "common humanity collective" action in the Bay Area. Some people used shop towels and nanofiber filters. , Through staples, 5 minutes to make a seamless mask.

Someone converted the laboratory into a temporary hand sanitizer factory.

So far, they have distributed enough disinfectant and nearly 20,000 masks to more than 120,000 people from low-income and other vulnerable groups in the Bay Area. Many Asians have participated.

University of California, Berkeley students can easily produce masks using staples and kitchen tissues.

(Photographed by Liu Xianjin, reporter from "World Journal", USA)

　　In March of this year, Abidi, a PhD student in Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleague, Ivan Hao, who is now studying in the medical school, launched the "Common Human Collective" initiative to produce hand sanitizer and other products.

　　Abidi said that at the beginning of the outbreak, the transformed laboratory only produced hand sanitizer and operated at high speed, working 19 to 20 hours a day to fill the East Bay and San Francisco homeless shelters, prisons, low-income housing communities and nursing homes related to hand washing. There is a severe shortage of liquid.

　　Since the beginning of winter, the epidemic situation in California has soared and deaths have soared. Volunteers have been producing 120 gallons of handwashing at full capacity in the two laboratories of Pergamon, including the Valley Life Sciences Building and the Li Ka-shing Biomedical and Health Sciences Center. Liquid, low cost.

Staples + paper towels to make a mask in 5 minutes

　　But as the supply of hand sanitizer was sufficient, a new situation was discovered.

For example, when the economy changes, many people may still have jobs in March, and now they are unsustainable after losing their jobs.

The line outside the food bank was crowded, and the number of people infected was more than ever.

Volunteers said that no matter what the conditions are, try their best to meet the epidemic prevention requirements of all sectors of society.

I don’t want anyone to choose between paying for food or rent and buying reliable personal protective equipment, hoping to save lives.

So people began to make masks.

　　Chris Ji, Ph.D. in Plant and Microbiology Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, included an attempt to make simple high-quality masks into the plan in the summer.

He said that the idea of ​​making masks came from the implementation of home shelter in the Bay Area in March, when masks were in short supply.

The store will state at the door that you are not allowed to enter without a mask.

"What if someone can't make their own masks, or can't buy them? I can't even enter the store. I just want to do what I can."

　　He said that the mask was inspired by an article in Business Insider Weekly.

The article said that kitchen paper towels are effective in filtering small particles.

He developed a simple manufacturing method, fold the multi-layer paper towels, add an efficient nanofiber filter layer, fix it with staples, and install the straps. Without sewing, a mask can be produced in 5 minutes, which can filter 95%. Submicron particles, similar to N95 masks, but with low cost and easily available materials.

Chinese people enthusiastically participate in helping mask manufacturing and distribution

　　Many Chinese are involved in this project. Volunteer Elaine Qian is the action coordinator and helps make masks. Yi Liu, the manager of a Berkeley laboratory is responsible for handling mask inventory and distribution.

　　Currently, a storage room in the Koshland Hall building at the University of California, Berkeley, has enough materials and filters to help volunteers make 12,000 new masks in the next few months.

(Liu Xianjin)