I have asthma, diabetes, and am recovering from a pulmonary embolism. If I get COVID-19, I’ll die. I’m also penniless, so I’ve constructed my own PPE.
This is my Mark I PPE, which I wear only when there is serious risk of infection, such as when I’m at a hospital. It’s made from two two-litre pop bottles, a plastic bowl, a peanut tin, some plastic tarp, and a whole lot of packing tape and hot glue. The filter contains a cotton fabric pouch filled with activated charcoal.
This is my Mark II PPE, which is my usual everyday protection, such as when I have to go to the drug store for meds, which I wear with a pair of safety goggles. It’s made from a gardening kneepad sculpted with a craft knife, and with a basic construction filter mask hotglued into it, to which I have added a filter made from a paper towel pouch filled with activated charcoal which can be disposed of after every trip. I’ve made the sides more or less airtight by hot gluing cotton makeup removal pads along the edges as required to fill gaps (such as under the eyes).