According to the report by VOICE OF AMERICA(VOA), Vietnamese women in the Seattle area are sewing face masks amid of coronavirus to help those in need of essential facemasks in Washington State.
VOA informed that "Katie Nguyen, a tailor in Spanaway, Washington, who specialized in custom island attire, decided to start sewing masks when state authorities ordered nonessential businesses to close as part of the lockdown."
Phung Vo received about 200 masks from one of the volunteers named Loan Ngo. Phung Vo works in the inpatient pharmacy at EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington. Phung estimates the medical center use around 20 masks a day.
Vo recounted, "I showed the masks to my supervisor who said 'Perfect.'" He added he and his colleagues at the pharmacy are required to wear masks and are "so grateful for the cloth mask donation. Our Evergreen hospital is the most crowded with COVID-19 patients in the state."
"I'm very grateful that the community makes the masks and donates them," Vo said. "We wear them, we use them...[They're] very good quality fabric.''
Meanwhile, Washington State is the first COVID-19 case to arise in the United States on January 21. Since then, the number of cases began to skyrocket, and Governor Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency and enforced numerous safety orders to help slow down the spread of the coronavirus.
Washington State Department of Health reports the total number of 11,445 confirmed cases, 603 deaths related to COVID-19, and 286 new confirmed cases reported as of April 16. As a whole, the United States reports 710,021 confirmed cases, 37,158 deaths, and 60,510 recovered cases.
Nguyen has transformed her home workshop to produce masks abiding social distancing guidelines, and other Vietnamese communities donated the materials needed for the production.
Nguyen told VOA Vietnamese, "We have answered pleas from hospitals, doctors and nurses who are so desperate for personal protective equipment amid the coronavirus pandemic."
Loan Ngo was one of the volunteers who helped Nguyen on producing masks, and she is now capable of arranging it at her home and continued to help medical centers.
"We're still heathy, we need to do something," said Ngo, who is from Ho Chi Minh City. "A mask is still better than nothing, right? And our doctors, nurses and health care workers are on the front lines of the battle."
"I delivered masks to Valley Medical Center in Renton this morning," Ngo said. "Sitting in my car with masks on my hands, I cried when I saw medical workers and ... ambulances rushing on the compound. They are most vulnerable to virus infection."
Vietnamese communities are contributing whatever they could to serve those in need and have created a great collaborating atmosphere in Washington.
