Mid shot, a patient at 3i Senior Residential Welfare, hugs through the 'hug curtain' another woman there to visit her

Video. COVID-19: 'Hug curtain' used in Brazilian nursing homes

Elderly patients in a nursing home in Sao Paulo can hug their loved ones through a plastic 'hug curtain,' a way to bring families together amid the pandemic that is ravaging Brazil, with over 41,000 deaths and more than 800,000 cases.

Elderly patients in a nursing home in Sao Paulo can hug their loved ones through a plastic 'hug curtain,' a way to bring families together amid the pandemic that is ravaging Brazil, with over 41,000 deaths and more than 800,000 cases.

'Hug curtain' , a plastic sheet with arms, is being deployed in some of Sao Paulo’s nursing homes to allow some contact between residents and their loved ones.

Bruno Zani, a businessman who makes a living organising parties and events claims to have invented the design. According to him, the model has since been copied all over the world.

Zani and his associate, 32 years Maiara Martins, voluntarily visit nursing homes in Sao Paulo with the curtain so patients can go through this experience.

Martins, who is an occupational therapist, regularly works in some of those nursing houses.

Zani said inspiration to create the device came from watching the documentary 'A 3 Minutes Hug', missing hugging his mother, and being unable to donate to nursing homes, as he has always done, the leftover flowers from the parties he organizes, due to quarantine measures. 

He said the project has been self-funded so far and wants to engage the support of other businessmen to produce more units and expand it to other nursing homes.

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