The coronavirus oubreak has led to a race across Europe to find fast-track solutions.
ADVERTISEMENT
History has shown us that in times of crisis, people get inventive. The coronavirus pandemic has led to a flurry of initiatives across Europe.
In northern Italy, a small company is fast-tracking the production of respiratory valves with a 3D printer.
COVID-19 often leads to pneumonia and the Venturi valves, as they are known, help patients to breathe and can therefore save lives.
Further north in the Republic of Ireland, Colin Keogh is using his apartment in County Wicklow as a workshop for low-cost ventilators for coronavirus sufferers.
The project began a little over a week ago and has quickly expanded to more than 600 members.
It hopes to produce prototypes for testing and validating in a medical environment next week.
In Spain, residents in the small village of Sentmenat in Catalonia have taken matters into their own hands in an effort to help with a shortage of protective masks.
They have started sewing the face wear using fabrics donated by nearby factories.
With only a small workshop and a few sewing machines, the locals prepare dozens of masks everyday for door-to-door distribution.