Poor tribals in Andhra and Telangana in India are wearing face masks made out of medicinal leaves to keep COVID-19 at bay.

According to Times of India, this cheap yet genius method seem to have worked as there are almost no cases of novel coronavirus recorded among the tribal groups there.

This as urbanites are facing a shortage of face masks, as COVID-19 continues to tear through the country, and the world, at large.

Instead of waiting for the government to come to the rescue, these primitive tribal populations, who inhabit the dense forests of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, selected a few trees with medical values, plucked their leaves and fashioned them into face masks, said the report.

The types of leaves used include that of the teak tree, palm and pongamia tree.

According to a local NGO, around 15,000 people in various tribal pockets of north coastal Andhra are using the improvised face masks.

According to a tribal leader, the community switched to "natural" masks after exhausting the government-supplied face masks of three each.

Such a brilliant idea indeed.

India remains the third worst-hit country in the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 1.9 million people infected, and over 39,000 deaths.

Globally, the virus has infected more than 18.6 million people and killed over 700,000.


Source: Times of India
Photo source: New Indian Express