Volunteers reach out to Mexico City’s homeless population that is at risk for coronavirus infection while donning suits like ‘Money Heist’ actors
- El Caracol Civil Association is reaching out to the homeless in Mexico City and providing face masks and hand sanitizers during the coronavirus pandemic
- The organization has outfitted its staff with non-contact electronic thermometers to register body temperatures
- The Mexican capital city has 16 boroughs with a population of 9million and almost 7,000 are homeless
- As of Friday, Mexican City reported 1,754 deaths and 16,758 confirmed cases of coronavirus
- The country overall has registered 6,510 deaths from the virus and a total of 59,567 people have been infected
- As many as 4,577 have died due to respiratory issues between March 18, the date of Mexico’s first COVID-19 related death, and May 12
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
The ‘Money Heist’s’ professor would surely approve of the good deed a Mexico City-based nonprofit organization has taken up since the coronavirus pandemic swept across the Mexican capital.
As the virus swept across Asia and Europe, El Caracol Civil Association’s founder and director Luis Enrique Hernández started developing a plan to help Mexico City’s forgotten homeless population.
At least six members of the community organization set out upon Mexico City’s 16 boroughs, searching for the federal district’s estimated 4,300 homeless persons who are at risk of contracting COVID-19. An additional 2,400 live in shelters.
The small group’s volunteers did so while donning PPE suits that resemble those worn by the hit Netflix series’ characters, although it wasn’t their explicit intention. They just wanted a suit that would protect them from being infected and make them recognizable within the homeless community.
El Caracol Civil Association visits Mexico City’s 16 boroughs in search of homeless persons and provide assistance to slow down the coronavirus outbreak in Mexico’s capital
A volunteer takes the temperature of a child using a non-contact electronic thermometer
El Caracol consists of six volunteers, including its founder, who are reaching out to Mexico’s homeless population during the coronavirus pandemic. Since March 28, the nonprofit group has handed out 1,400 kits that include face masks, soap and hand sanitizer
Led by Hernández, the group went through a medical training, attended workshops to learn more about the global epidemic and how to detect potential cases and received information on symptoms.
Since March 26, El Caracol has come across 800 people to whom it was able to provide assistance and awareness.
It has so far handed out 1,400 kits that include face masks, soap and hand sanitizers.
Its staff is also equipped with a non-contact electronic thermometer to register temperatures for members of a population that were not informed of the hazards of the pandemic.
An adult homeless man has his body temperature taken in Mexico City. Mexico’s capital has been the hardest hit in the nation with COVID-19, causing the death of 1,754 people and producing 16,758 confirmed cases
El Caracol director and founder Luis Enrique Hernández provides water to a homeless man in Mexico City as part of the nonprofit group’s plan to slow down the spread of COVID-19
‘That was very important because it gave us the pulse of what was happening with the population. They were not receiving information,’ Hernández told DailyMail.com on Friday via a text message.
‘All the institutions that they commonly visit were closed and [they] were abandoned on the street. So the fact that Caracol came out was a great opportunity for COVID-19 to be prevented.’
While coming into contact with Mexico City’s homeless, El Caracol noticed that most of them did not have access to water, which exposed them even more to contracting the disease.
‘Water is a fundamental element now in this COVID-19 pandemic because we have to wash our hands in a recurring way. They don’t have it,’ Hernández said.
‘We also bring water to the streets so that they can wash their hands when we are working with them. Caracol is an organization that not only has mutual affection for them, but we know that we can achieve important work to protect their rights and in this case safeguard their lives.’
Aside from seeking donations to continue its outreach supply program, Hernández has been looking for donors who can provide food that does not necessarily need to be cooked.
The virus has killed 1,754 people and produced 16,758 confirmed cases in Mexico City.
El Caracol’s volunteers took part in workshops to learn more about the coronavirus epidemic and how to detect potential cases
A volunteer with El Caracol provides literature in the form of a pamphlet to educate the homeless about the ravaging coronavirus pandemic