Updated 18:03 IST, December 4th 2020
Romanian cobbler creates size-75 winter boots to ensure social distancing amid COVID-19
Grigore Lup, a cobbler in Romania has created giant shoes to aid people in maintaining apt social distance amid the threat of COVID-19.
A cobbler in Romania has created giant shoes to aid people in maintaining apt social distance amid the threat of COVID-19. Grigore Lup, a leather smith by profession has created his special size 75 shoes which would automatically keep people two meters apart if worn by people facing each other. With global coronavirus cases nearing 65,659,780, Lup says people standing “too close” inspired him to create elongated shoes.
Also created winter boots
According to Calvert Journal, each pair of shoe costs around 90 Euros and require as much leather as it would require three regular size shoes to make. In addendum, to summer shoes, he has also created elongated winter boots to keep people moving as the chilly season arrives. Each boot costs nearly 150 euros. He also revealed that orders from people with large foot sizes has also increased since he came out with his elongated shoes.
Lup, who belongs to the Transylvanian city of Cluj, has been making leather shoes for almost 40 years. Before the pandemic hit, he was earning his livelihood by supplying shes to clients in theatres, opera houses, and traditional folk dance ensembles. However, his business plunged manifold as the pandemic battered country's economy.
Romania, which has reported 492,211 coronavirus cases since late-February and 11,876 deaths, has closed schools, theatres and restaurants, made wearing a mask mandatory in all public spaces and imposed a curfew to cope with the second wave. A few days ago, tragedy stuck Romania after the Intensive Care Unit of a public hospital in the city of Piatra Neamt, which was designated for COVID-19 patients, caught fire which led to the death of 10 people and left about 10 injured of which 7 remain critical. According to a report by The Guardian, of the 10 people who died, seven were men and three were women and all of them were between the age of 67 to 86 years old.
Published 18:05 IST, December 4th 2020