HUMAN ERROR — COVID-19
There are 399,829 confirmed cases worldwide. There are surely more. (Last updated: March 25th, 2020)
The coronavirus is currently catching more than 150 million people in quarantines and cordons sanitaries in China and around the world. The race to finger the animal source of COVID-19 is on.
Scientists saw that the virus closely resembled viruses that circulate in bats. “If you look at the genetic sequence of the virus, it’s closely related to a bat virus, about 96 percent the same,” Jim LeDuc, head of the Galveston National Laboratory, a level 4 biosafety lab in Texas, told Vox. “There’s been talk about a pangolin intermediate host;”
Chinese officials also reported that several of the first cluster of cases had ties to a live animal market where both seafood and other wildlife were sold as food. (The market has since been closed.) The market soon became the leading hypothesis for how the virus made the leap into humans, where it’s been able to spread efficiently ever since.
In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic, global media accounts of China’s live animal markets have themselves gone viral. We’ve been to China, it is quite a shocker when you’re coming from the West. A New York Times article, for example, consciously described China’s “omnivorous” markets in a way that would be aesthetically unacceptable to its western audience (whole plucked chickens — with heads and beaks attached), as well as an assortment of wild animals, selected to shock the reader:
Even though China’s way of living is a surprise for some people; The virus’s animal origin is still a critical mystery to solve. But speculation about which wild creature originally harbored the virus obscures a more fundamental source of our growing vulnerability to pandemics: the accelerating pace of habitat loss.
Habitat destruction threatens a vast numbers of wild species with extinction, including the medicinal plants and animals we’ve historically depended upon for our pharmacopeia. It also forces those wild species that hang on to cram into smaller fragments of remaining habitat, increasing the likelihood that they’ll come into repeated, intimate contact with the human settlements expanding into their newly fragmented habitats. It’s this kind of repeated, intimate contact that allows the microbes that live in their bodies to cross over into ours, transforming benign animal microbes into deadly human pathogens. It’s not only the fact of habitat destruction that ratchets up the risk of disease emergence, it’s also what we’re replacing wild habitat with.
To sate our species carnivorous appetites, we’ve razed an area around the size of the continent of Africa to raise animals for slaughter. Some of these animals are then delivered through the illicit wildlife trade or sold in so-called “wet markets.” There, wild species that would rarely if ever encounter each other in nature are caged next to one another, allowing microbes to jump from one species to the next, a process that begot the coronavirus that caused the 2002–03 SARS epidemic and possibly the novel coronavirus stalking us today.
While the human footprint has continued to expand across the planet, scientists have pinpointed more than 900 novel viruses around the world that emerged as a result, including new strains of SARS-like coronaviruses.
Scientists have singled bats and pangolins as potential sources of the virus, but the real blame lies elsewhere — with human assaults on the environment.
“COVID-19 IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM / SO STFU AND STOP BEING RACIST / ITS 2020 YALL” Via @ edcee3000
We have created two different t-shirt designs to honor all bats, pangolins and other living animals. The objective of this limited HUMAN ERROR — COVID 19 t-shirt series is to create consciousness among us warm blooded primates alias humans.
The problem is the way that cutting down forests and expanding towns, cities, and industrial activities creates pathways for animal microbes to adapt to the human body. But that’s not the fault of wild animals. Wild animals are not especially infested with deadly pathogens, poised to infect us. In fact, most of these microbes live harmlessly in these animals’ bodies.The true animal source is us.
BOTH T-SHIRTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE. BUY ONE AND DONATE 10 3D PRINTING MASK's.
We live in a era of mass consumption. Shopping has been a fundamental human activity since the early days of civilization. However, from ancient times to not so long ago (say the last 100 years or so) the most significant changes took place in the retail world and the products that had available to us. We went from being able to access only those things manufactured in our immediate area to be able to buy things from all of the corners of the world. At this rapid tecchnological pace, we are on the binge of a ecological collapse. (Can you feel the COVID-19 struggle now?)
Not to mention , second to oil, the clothing and textile industry is the largest polluter in the world. We’ve learned that waste is a design flaw (in every part of the chain) and that the most advanced products are the ones that will make the least environmental impact. You can read more about our sustainable initiatives here.
For each HUMAN ERROR — COVID 19 t-shirt purchased we will donate ten 3D printed protection masks to hospitals and caregivers in need that are short in working supplies. With your purchase we will be able to afford all materials to manufacture this from our home and to distribute to the following locations who we are in direct contact with and know that are in desperate need:
- Hospital Regional General ISSTE Zaragoza - This hospital is now saturated with terminally ill people (mainly all variations of Cancer) and are receiving patients with potential COVID-19. They are currently out of medical supplies. doctors are working around the clock.
- Informal workers — people who work in the streets of Texcoco, Estado de Mexico. They live by the day. They can’t afford to miss a day at work. We will tackle people who work at: Mercado Las Vías, Texcoco, Mercado Belisario Domínguez, Shoe shiners, ballon sellers.
- Caravan with out Borders / Location: Tijuana, Mexico / 12 days in quarantine (Last updated March 25th, 2020) — they are running out on their last stock of food. In Machina we support immigrants crossing Mexico. You can read about our latest initiative here.
We will donate ten 3D printing masks for each t-shirt sale.
If you are not interested in buying our HUMAN ERROR-COVID 19 limited edition t-shirt that’s ok. You can buy donate a 3D printing mask here.
FAQ HUMAN ERROR — COVID 19 DONATION
- Why did you choose to help the organizations or individual people mentioned above?
As founders, this is not the first time we help people in need. Wish we can help every single person in need out there but the organizations and individuals we chose to help are people we know personally, support their cause, or we have worked with them in the past.
Why not donate the full purchase to the organizations/people mentioned above?
Most businesses out there today, are facing bankrupcy. As the coronavirus pandemic impacts all parts of life, society, and health — Coronavirus will bankrupt more people than it kills — and that’s the real global emergency. We are a relatively small family owned business. This is only the beginning to the struggle and we can already feel it’s effects. As some of you know our team is a global team, this means we are scattered between cities from Mexico City to Taipei, Shenzhen, and San Francisco. Because of this we are adapting on how we operate.
Safety and health is our top priority as founders. We are dedicated to our team members and providing “home office” for all of our employees. With that being said there will be NO layoff and/or furlough for us.
We will continue to design and manufacture as long as possible. Our purpose is to survive.
- How do I know you have donated part of my purchase?
We will document the process. From manufacturing 3D printed masks or even to make a wire transfer to buy food and other medical supplies. We will monitor ALL of the organizations and individuals we help and will e-mail you sharing this kind of information. We will also publish this through our social media.
- Will your 3D printed mask save lifes?
Medical masks are still the best option, especially for medical professionals; but given the present shortages of medical-grade protective gear in the midst of a pandemic, they may be the best option for some people.
Not everyone has a 3D printer at home. We have four. We like to help, and we believe this is a way we can help our community.
Please, don’t forget to continue washing your hands and if you use a 3D printed mask, please disinfect constantly and change the filters everyday.
We should ask ourselves what kind of world we will inhabit once the storm passes. Yes, the storm will pass, humankind will survive, most of us will still be alive — but we will inhabit a different world.