We've seen the 3D printing industry lending their hand in making face shields and a group of Malaysians inventing a portable disinfectation machine.

Now, a group of Malaysians has built a makeshift pressure pod to help frontliners fight coronavirus.

Inspired by South Korea

According to Mashable South East Asia, the initiative happened when two healthcare professionals from University of Malaya Medical Center (UMMC), Dr Tan Guo Jeng and Dr Khairul Azri Sabri, approached Brian Lee, a prop builder from Macam Yes Studios, to build a prototype.

Lee and his team - including Kenneth Lim, the executive director of signage making and signboard supplying company Vortex Media - took inspiration from South Korea's phone booth-like COVID-19 testing stations.

“Frontliners are not machines. They have families, they have friends and as much to lose as we do. So we decided to help them out by initiating the ‘Project Cov-shield Prototype 1’ and create a negative pressure pod like the isolation booths with the help of some specialists and doctors.

“These booths save time, PPE resources, and minimise the risk of exposure to the frontline medical staff, so UMMC doctors reached out to us and gave us some input about the design as well,” said Lim.

According to Lim, the pressure pods are made out of acrylic and aluminium sheets.

They still need help

Despite that, Lim said that they still need a little bit of help when it comes to mass producing the pressure pods.

The team is currently in need of mechanical supplies such as industrial exhaust fans, biomechanical resistant gloves, portable air conditioners and HEPA filters.

“We alone cannot deploy it in such a short time and we can’t afford to quarantine anymore trained medical staff either. For every minute we waste, a medical staff is put at risk,” he was quoted as saying.

He has also set up a Facebook group to share ideas with other like-minded individuals to help the frontliners, so if you have any ideas or you would like to help out, you can get in touch with him here.