The organization, together with Catalan manufacturer Tèxtil Rosdan, will provide a kit with the necessary materials to sew DIY masks for personal use. The acquisition of the kit means a €1 donation which will go towards research and treatment of COVID-19.
The Catalan National Assembly will help bring 105,000 personal-use masks to the Catalan population, as they are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Together with Tèxtil Rosdan —a long-term collaborator— the organization has taken up the task to find the right fabric (220 g and 100% cotton), apply a water-repellent treatment to increase its safety, cut it at Tèxtil Rosdan’s facilities and distribute it through an agreement with the Catalan Bonpreu-Esclat supermarket chain.
The kit will have a donation cost of one euro and will contain two pieces of fabric and a rubber band. This way, each person will be able to make two masks. These will be for personal use, as they are not designed for use in healthcare. The proceeds from this initiative will go entirely to the research and treatment of COVID-19 in Catalan hospitals.
Citizens will be able to buy them at the different establishments in the Bonpreu Group’s supermarket chain from Tuesday, March 31. The kits will include instructions, which are to be carried out at home and can be sown both by hand and with sewing machines.
The water-repellent treatment disappears after 30 washes. However, the Catalan National Assembly recommends that before using the mask, it should be washed with a combination of water and bleach at a minimum temperature of 60ºC. This process must be repeated after each use. The organization also reminds users that the masks are a complementary and personal protection material, and that all other measures of protection against the virus must still be followed.
This initiative joins other services such as the free telephone line for psychological support that the Catalan National Assembly offers COVID-19 patients and their carers and family as well as health workers, and which is extending its hours from 9 am to 9 pm all week.