By Liezle Basa Inigo
DAGUPAN CITY --- The hand-made and washable face masks and face shields created by former congresswoman Manay Gina de Venecia are now trending among market vendors in the 4th district of Pangasinan.
LATEST FASHION -- Market vendors in the 4th district of Pangasinan wear washable face masks and face shields created by former congresswoman Manay Gina de Venecia. (Liezle Inigo)
Manay Gina, mother of Rep. Christopher "Toff" De Venecia, distributed the face masks and face shields to market vendors in the 4th district. The shields and masks quickly became the "in" fashion among the vendors and the demand for them grew.
"Ang goal ko is to produce 10,000 face shields para sa mga kababayan natin sa 4th District. At tulong -tulong kami ng mga staff ko, pati ng kapamilya ko sa paggawa ng face shields," Manay Gina said.
Instead of watching television series, Manay Gina said she chose to be productive and created her owned version of face masks and face shields at home while under an Enhanced Community Quarantine.
She also started creating face masks for protection against droplets from persons who may be infected with COVID-19. She said social distancing is not enough.
Citing a research in Japan, Manay Gina said when an infected individual coughs, sneezes, or talks, the micro droplets can remain in the air for 20 minutes in enclosed spaces. The larger droplets will fall to the ground within one minute.
In another research by Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, it was found that cough micro droplets extend and can exceed three feet or one meter.