Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee trio order 10,000 face masks to help protect city care workers

A woman wearing a face mask in Dundee
A woman wearing a face mask in Dundee

A Dundee trio have ordered 10,000 face masks from China to help protect city care workers who they say have been “forgotten about”.

Members of The Weaver Incorporation of Dundee Alastair Scott, Sandra Thomson, and Bob Low came up with idea after hearing of the plight facing care homes.

Figures announced this week show one in four coronavirus-related deaths have occurred in such facilities in Scotland while many are struggling to source PPE.

Donations from benefactors and funds accumulated by the group, part of the historic Nine Incorporated Trades Of Dundee, made the £8,000 purchase possible.

It is hoped the disposable surgical masks, the most commonly used outside of intensive care settings, will be delivered from China in under three weeks.

Mr Scott, whose family established Dundee business H & A Scott in 1856 and ran it for almost 130 years, said: “It seems as though the care industry has been forgotten in all this.

“When we realised we could help through Bob’s contact in China, we got to work sourcing the funds.

“The only issue is the time it will take for the masks to arrive, which we wish was quicker.

“The amount that care homes go through in even one shift is quite remarkable actually.

“If we can do this one load and distribute them to anxious staff that need them then we will have done our bit.

“I can’t see them going to waste, that’s for sure.”

He said they have been encouraged by NHS Tayside to order the masks while care workers themselves have said the equipment would be welcome.

The masks will be kept in a warehouse in the city to be distributed to both care homes and individual carers who need them.

He added that if demand continues then the group is more than willing to place more orders.

“To do that, we’d need donations,” he said.

“If it’s needed, we can look at placing a bigger order and getting them out to other parts of Tayside.

“It’s nice to hear positive stories in all this and I do feel it is bringing people closer together.

“People seem more concerned for others and I too have spoken more with neighbours.

“We are just looking to do something to help in this health crisis we didn’t ask for.”