Three days after the Czech Republic ordered its citizens to save themselves by wearing face masks, compliance was almost 100 percent. Situated just above Italy, the small country of 10.6 million didn’t have masks to give away in the March 18 order, but they made effective videos showing why to make them. Sewing machines began to whir.
News of this success reached our ears thanks to some Czech pride from reader Martin Prochazka. He sent a video, Why We Need #Masks4All by Jeremy Howard, who had been inspired by the Czechs. Normally a researcher at the University of San Francisco who delves into human brain function and artificial neural networks, in his video, Howard holds a craft session on face-mask making with a T-shirt and a paper towel.
Prochazka said, “I’m Czech, like Petr Ludwig the Czech entrepreneur who … helped convince the Czech Republic people of the importance of wearing one. I like the video because it’s scientifically based and convincing on why masks are effective. The actual mask itself presented is of course one of many that can be found on how to make one.” The video can be found here.
