Campeche man makes coconut shell mouthpieces to prevent COVID-19

Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche (Thursday, March 26, 2020).- Creativity, lack of economic resources and shortage of mouth covers in the state of Campeche, in the middle of Phase II of containment of the COVID-19 pandemic, forced Miguel Reyes, an older adult native of Ciudad del Carmen, to create a mouth cover with a coconut shell, and be able to go out on the street to carry out his errands.

At 68 years of age, Don Miguel acknowledges that he is part of one of the most vulnerable sectors in the face of this disease, “I must take care of myself, but I cannot stay at home, since I have the need to work out on the street , mainly in downtown Ciudad del Carmen”.

He explains that he lives in the Justo Sierra neighborhood, in the north of the island, with his wife, who maintains preventive measures at home, while he goes out to work, make the necessary purchases and other things.

“For a few weeks I have tried to get mouth masks in the pharmacies near my house, but there are none, they always tell me that they are going to arrive and so far I cannot find them. There are others that are very expensive, and we do not have the resources to buy them. ”

In this way, theman came up with the idea of making a mouth cover using a coconut shell, which, not only protects effectively, but which has also caused an impact among the local population.

“I do not have to throw this mouthpiece away, on the contrary, when it arrived at the house I disinfect it with soap and water, in addition to a little chlorine, with which I can use it again every time I have the need to go out”, said Don Miguel.

The face mask made by Don Miguel, is half the shell of a coconut, which was cleaned of chips with sandpaper to avoid hurting the skin, while using it, the shell is tied with a piece of elastic, which allows it to hold firmly to a person’s face.