America Together: Uplifting images of Americans pulling together during coronavirus pandemic
Every day and in every community, the coronavirus pandemic is bringing out the best in Americans. Take a look at some inspiring images of Americans pulling together in a time of crisis.
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Caroline Berti and Karen Sabag went to design school together over a decade ago and have been the best of friends ever since.
Now, these two New York City designers have teamed up together to make masks during the coronavirus epidemic hitting the New York region.
In a week and a half, they have made more than 4,000.
They founded Sew4Lives, whose social media tagline is “Designers/Sewers across NY & USA making free masks/PPE We are proudly zero-profit.”
“We come from the fashion industry and never imagined we would be able to create an initiative like Sew4Lives that could bring together an entire community of local designers and creatives,” Berti told Fox News, noting the group has now become nationwide in over 20 states and growing.
The masks are going to hospitals in the New York City region.
They are also being sent to essential organizations from postal offices and banks to police stations and homeless shelters.
New York state has tallied 4,758 deaths from COVID-19, with 599 reported since Sunday.
The situation remains grim, with close to 17,000 people hospitalized, but there are signs the surge might finally be slowing.
While the death toll grows, the daily increases in the state are leveling off. The daily number of new hospitalizations has dropped. Recent data suggests the state could be at or near the peak, meaning fewer hospital beds would be needed in the coming weeks than the most dire projections had indicated, according to state officials.
Berti added: “Like everyone right now, we have an urge to help. We were able to have the foresight a few weeks ago when we watched the news and realized there was a shortage of masks happening at smaller hospitals in the midwest, and knew that big states like New York, our hometown, could face a massive shortage of PPE.”
They then sprang into action.
“We researched fabric early on March 16th and I ordered fabric when I realized the material medical masks are made from was commonly used and widely available. Karen who is a bridal designer had over 200 garment bags on hand which were actually made from the exact material of the masks, I reached out to Karen's garment bag supplier and they confirmed the content of the material was the same,” Berti said.
She said a single mask only takes a seasoned designer approximately 5-10 minutes to make.
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“The fact that all of us who are so isolated right now can come together to do something so small yet significant enough that it could actually save people's lives and impacts the entire world, is why we are doing this," Berti said. "We are also grateful this is able to provide volunteers and us as designers with a sense of humane purpose during these uncertain times.”
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