NYC artist making face shields for hospitals
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A New York City fine artist has created a new career since the coronavirus epidemic hit the New York region.
Luba Drozd, originally from Ukraine, has used her 3D printer to make plastic face shields, personal protective equipment (PPE) for the medical community, helping save lives.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I feel guilty about sleeping when doctors are in danger,” she told The New York Post. “I wake up around 8 a.m. and I go to sleep around 3 or 4 a.m. Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night to finish printing and start a new one.”
The artist said she felt useful in this crisis: turning aesthetics into function.
“I saw an article about an Italian teen who 3D printed for hospitals in Italy because the situation is so dire. I thought that the situation would be just as dire here, and I looked on forums within the 3D printing communities [to find designs,]” Drozd, 38, added. “I never thought I would be making things for the medical field or during a pandemic. I wanted to do the right thing for everyone. It seems like I had the tools to help and that’s what I wanted to do.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CORONAVIRUS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
New York City, the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic, saw a glimmer of hope, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo saying on Sunday that daily deaths had dropped slightly, along with intensive-care admissions and the number of patients who needed breathing tubes inserted. Still, he warned it was “too early to tell” the significance of those numbers.
“We could either be very near the apex, or the apex could be a plateau and we could be on the plateau right now,” Cuomo said. “You can’t do this day-to-day. You have to look at three or four days to see a pattern.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cuomo said Sunday overall deaths in the state climbed to nearly 4,200.
The state reported 594 new coronavirus deaths on Sunday — a small decrease compared to the 630 new deaths announced the day before. ICU admissions and intubations were also down, the governor said, while the discharge rate from hospitals was rising.
The governor said the state’s health-care system remained over capacity, adding that New York was “running short on supplies all across the board.” Over 122,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus and at least 16,000 people remain hospitalized, according to the latest data.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Drozd’s community set up a GoFundMe page so she could buy 3D printer filament, Duralar acetate sheets, bags, bands, glue and other supplies.
“My commitment is to donate the 3D printers we bought with people’s money and donate to schools or hospitals so they can print themselves and make them,” Drozd said. “I am hoping more people will make the shields. I am hoping whatever is happening on a larger scale with larger companies will come and rescue health workers because the response is slower than it should be.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Drozd, an installation artist working with site-specific sound, 3D animation, and sculpture, has made nearly 200 of her plastic face shields.
“A doctor wrote to me saying, ‘you are truly saving lives, we are so grateful to you,’” Drozd said.