Marco Jimenez in Mexico-City
The Mexican Red Cross began distributing masks in Mexico City after being out of stock for several days. Masks are crucial items in preventing the HIN1 virus from spreading.
The National Society, through its General Relief Programme made all resources available to get masks elsewhere through direct purchases or donations from various countries in South and North America, Europe and Asia.
“At first people didn’t seem interested in knowing about the disease, the masks or information. As news spread about the gravity of the situation, people hurried out to buy masks. Stocks in stores, health organizations and the NS ran out quickly and speculation began, with some people reselling for profit at abusive prices” says Erasmo Martínez, volunteer for the National Society for 23 years.
The donations arrived today - one from the Canadian Red Cross and another from the Spanish government. The Canadian NS donated 124,000 face masks; Spain donated 2,400 personal protection kits (full body hermetic suit, protective goggles and face masks).This is the first in a series of donations coming from different countries, governments and private companies.
The National Society immediately called together its volunteers to begin a large-scale distribution of material. The teams of volunteers went to key points around the city and commenced distribution.
What happened in the historical centre of Mexico City is an example of what was repeated in several places throughout the capital.
A team of volunteers, who had planned to visit three different locations to carry out distribution, arrived at the Plaza Mayor de México and began to give out information leaflets. After 15 minutes, they started distributing masks. Immediately, and in spite of the general shut down, a queue of about 300 people formed. The masks which had been earmarked for that particular distribution point ran out after 10 minutes and the team had to end the operation. The atmosphere turned tense and people got annoyed, asking for more material. The volunteer team had to leave immediately.
“It’s the first time we have experienced a health situation of this scale, and that means we sometimes have to improvise. I think we should have begun the distribution sooner, but apparently it was hard to get the material” says Diana Guzmán, volunteer for six years. “Although we are more exposed to people’s reaction in this difficult situation, we must stay calm because this is the nature of our work.”