Verbier locals make hospital gowns for Swiss medics

24th March 2020, by Abi Butcher

Residents in Verbier are turning bedsheets into hospital gowns and masks

Residents in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier are turning bedsheets into hospital gowns and masks to help in the fight against Covid-19.

The move comes as doctors in Verbier request that the ski resort be quarantined following estimations that some 60 per cent of the population are suffering from coronavirus.

Yesterday, Verbier doctor Sabine Popescu told the news agency Reuters that the situation there was similar to that seen in the UK, where city dwellers have fled to second homes and rental properties in the hope of escaping the virus.

“People are coming thinking they will be safer in the mountains,” she told Reuters. “Now we must get the idea that this is over, Verbier needs to be in confinement. Very soon there will be no more tests of medicines to treat people.”

Equipment shortage has already become a reality, but locals are doing something to help. Many are now involved in an initiative to help turn bedsheets into hospital gowns and masks for doctors because there is such a shortage of equipment in Switzerland. A facebook group called “Hospital Gowns” has been set up by local Gemma Bartholomew, with residents sharing patterns and material, and members sharing photos of their sewing in a fabulous show of community spirit and solidarity.

On Sunday, Esther Waeber-Kalbermatten, Valais canton health director approached the federal government in Bern to ask for guidance, but has so far been told quarantining measures are not necessary.

Verbier is in Switzerland but close to the borders of France and Italy, and ski resorts in general are proving to be cluster sources of infection.

• verbier
• coronavirus
• covid19

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