In the famed tourism village of Kumbalanghi, Metilda Michael is engaged in stitching up double-layered, reusable cotton masks. At St. Teresa’s College in Kochi city, a group of the college alumni is busy producing a four-minute video presentation on how to make cotton masks that can be used repeatedly with proper sterilisation. A group of young people at Chembumukku on Kochi’s outskirts has set up a place for passers-by to wash their hands using soap.
The city’s response to the growing threat of COVID-19 has been varied and many.
While Ms. Metilda and her group have been producing masks for use in churches, they are now being supplied to the larger public under Kudumbashree activity groups.
Grace Mathew, 77, a member of the 1962 physics batch at St. Teresa’s College in the city, is part of a team which is producing hundreds of cotton masks that can be reused after being washed in boiled water.
The St. Teresa’ College Women’s Study Centre, Bhoomitra Club and Social Entrepreneurship Unit are involved in the activity.
“The reusable masks are mostly being supplied to personnel in the Police Department who man public spaces including railway and bus stations across the city,” said Nirmala Padmanabhan of the college. There was also a 74-year-old alumni who had volunteered to stitch masks that could be distributed free to police personnel, said Ms. Nirmala.
“We are also producing a short video on how to make masks that can be used safely by the public,” she said.
The masks have been certified by the district medical authorities for their effectiveness. At present, they are being given to police personnel in the city, six each to each of the police personnel so that they will have sufficient time to wash the masks and use them properly.
“Disposable masks have left a huge problem. Thousands of masks are used only once and then thrown away. Reusable masks pose no such issues,” said Ms. Nirmala.
Meanwhile, the Chemistry Department of St. Teresa’s College has come out with a hand sanitiser that has been tested to be effective by the Department of Zoology. Ten litres of the hand sanitiser have already been supplied to the Police Department.
