COVID-19: Sydney City Council donates more than 20,000 free masks to help needy people

The city council in Sydney has decided to distribute more than  20,000 free and reusable masks to the most vulnerable people residing in the city in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. The city mayor Clover Moore wrote on Twitter, "Over the last five weeks, City staff have distributed 20,000 reusable masks to vulnerable people who may not have otherwise had access to them. Today I helped distribute masks to Waterloo residents at the OzHarvest pop up supermarket."

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She further added, "I’m really pleased NSW has achieved three days in a row of zero community transmission, and we can’t afford to be complacent. These reusable masks will keep our community safe as we all do our bit to beat Covid-19 in Sydney."

City Council supports the vulnerable people

According to the ANI, Moore was reported to have said in a statement on Monday that Sydney city council strongly support the health advice to wear a mask and also realize that everyone cannot afford to buy a mask. News Agency ANI quoted Moore saying, "The city of Sydney has purchased cloth reusable masks for the most vulnerable in our community -- rough sleepers, people in social housing and boarding houses". 

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"The masks are made from three ply material and meet the guidelines produced by the World Health Organisation. We worked with an Australian manufacturer, ClothMaskMe, who provided the masks at cost price, as they were keen to support such an important cause", she added. 

The NSW Health is urging anyone feeling unwell, even with the mildest of symptoms to self-isolate from others and come forward for COVID-19 testing. It added that the symptoms include fever, cough, sore/scratchy throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of taste or smell. Other reported symptoms include fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, headache, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting and loss of appetite.

"No new cases of #COVID19 were diagnosed in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, with the total number of cases in NSW remaining at 4,029. This is the second day in a row that NSW has had no new cases, either locally acquired or in hotel quarantine", the NSW health wrote on Twitter. 

The Sydney Local Health District Chief Executive Teresa Anderson said that they were providing free medical help to the poor and disadvantaged communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic and also supported the free mask move of the council as many people are struggling financially. 

ANI quoted Anderson saying, "More than 13,000 people across Sydney and South Eastern Sydney local health districts are experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless, and we have many people living in social housing, or struggling financially due to job losses related to the pandemic". 

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