Isha Sesay
NUNS in Mallorca have sewn more than 1,200 face masks in response to the shortage of basic medical supplies on the island.
Sisters from Santa Clara Convent were contacted by officials from the Consell de Mallorca at the end of last week, asking for their immediate help.
After discussing the matter together, the group decided that in addition to praying, they would create masks to help the most vulnerable in their community.
They are now working around the clock to make the face shields which will be distributed to those at high risk of catching coronavirus, such as the elderly, disabled and homeless.
The group have already made more than 700 using cotton sheets which they say can be easily washed for reuse.
Nuns from Palma’s Clarisas Convent have also joined the initiative, hand sewing more than 500 masks using sheets, elastic bands and coloured ribbons.
Each mask is blessed by the nuns before being packaged and will be handed out to disabled centres and firefighters.
Elsewhere, the island’s textile manufactures have taken the decision to pause their regular production and to concentrate their efforts on making face masks.
This includes the Mallorcan artisan firm Teixits Riera, a family-run business based in Lloseta which has been designing and manufacturing fabrics for almost 125 years.
The shortage of face masks in Spain, which now ranks fourth in the world for the number of COVID-19 cases, has inspired several civil society initiatives across the country.
In Elda, a group of shoe makers made thousands of face masks for their local hospital.
Inmates from six prisons, spanning from Madrid to Salamanca, have also started manufacturing masks.
In an act of solidarity, the Spanish sportswear manufacturer Austral turned their attention from triathlon suits to the fabrication of more than 11,000 face masks.
Meanwhile, frontline healthcare workers in Mallorca have criticised the lack of basic medical supplies at hospitals to protect them against coronavirus.
The Balearic Medical Union SIMEBAL claim the shortage of clinical face masks and hand sanitiser has resulted in a high number of professionals becoming infected.
According to data released by the Ministry of Health, 68 have COVID-19 and a further 350 are being actively monitored for the virus.
