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Updated: 2003-05-09 10:00:27 -0400 (Reuters Health)
TAIPEI
(Reuters) - Villagers in southern Taiwan are strapping bras
to their faces to guard against the deadly SARS virus due
to a shortage of surgical masks.
"I went to every pharmacy in the village and it's impossible
to find a proper mask," a middle-aged man told cable television
on Thursday, his face partially covered by a dark red cup.
"Somebody came up with this idea so I decided to give it a
try," he said at a village near the southern city of Tainan.
A small bra factory is producing the make-shift masks, with
workers cutting each of its colorful bras in two and sewing
on extra straps to help the desperate villagers.
Face masks have disappeared from many store shelves as Taiwan's
severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) infections tripled
in the past two weeks to 360 cases, the third highest in the
world after China and Hong Kong.
TAIPEI
(Reuters) - Villagers in southern Taiwan are strapping bras
to their faces to guard against the deadly SARS virus due
to a shortage of surgical masks. 
