Anna Soriano, a sales rep with Sutton – Premier Realty in Surrey, B.C. recently purchased elastic and bolts of fabric and then sewed dozens of face masks for the nurses, kitchen workers, care aides, dietary staff and the housekeeping team at a long-term care home. It recently reported a COVID-19 contamination. Her masks are made with fine weave fabric and offer some protection.

Currently there are worldwide shortages of medical equipment including disposable paper medical masks. Members of the public are also wearing masks.

Soriano says when she delivered her gifts to the care home, “They were so happy with the masks and I committed to making 100 more. Their thank you from the bottom of their hearts is more than enough to make me want to sew more.”

One metre of fabric plus elastic costs $7, which makes approximately 10 masks. Paper and fabric masks may help to reduce the spread of droplets that carry the coronavirus.

Since the initial batch, Soriano has made dozens more masks, with the help of her family. Check out her Facebook page.