Pensioners pitch in, sew masks to help UK medics

A group of pensioners in a Southern England retirement village have started sewing colourful fabric face masks for the country's struggling National Health Service amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The women live at Whiteley Village in Surrey, and are in self-isolation to protect them from the virus.

"When I told them about our plight in the hospital where we didn't have enough masks they said well, we have fabric, we have the ladies, we have the sewing machines, let's help you," explained Dr Meenal Viz, a hospital doctor.

For the women the rallying call has provided a distraction from the loneliness of self-isolation.

Up until the coronavirus outbreak they had stitched tote bags for Binti International, a charity helping girls in the UK and around the world with menstrual products and education.

Viz was clear that being made of a cotton fabric, the masks provided only "about 40 to 50 percent protection."

"But at this point we are so desperate that we would rather have 40 to 50 per cent protection than none at all," she said.

The United States' Centers for Disease Control Prevention has recommended the usage of homemade masks only as a "last resort", whereas World Health Organisation guidance from January said that cloth masks were "not recommended under any circumstance."

The UK has confirmed over 22,000 cases of the new virus and over 1,400 deaths.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness.