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 But
following a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the
coronavirus, the 42-year-old vendor has turned to making plastic
face shields for frontline medical workers instead.
"I was once a patient myself and I feel like my family owes doctors
a lot", said Linh, who received hospital treatment a few years ago
for a blood-related illness.
"I want to make these shields to keep them healthy. If they are
healthy, then they can protect us".
Last week, Vietnam began a 15-day social distancing campaign to slow
the spread of the virus that has seen most non-essential businesses
shut, including Linh's stall.
There have been 241 reported cases of the coronavirus in Vietnam and
no reported deaths, according to the health ministry. Aggressive
contact tracing and a mass quarantine programme have helped keep
that tally low.
When the lockdown began, Linh assembled a group of family members,
friends and fellow vendors to start making the face shields. They
can be worn in addition to face masks to better protect medical
workers from the tiny virus-carrying droplets released by infected
patients.
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In just a few days, Linh and her gang of volunteers made almost 1,000 face
shields, she said, and distributed them to at least three nearby hospitals.
Linh said she had drawn on her experience as a hat vendor to line the shields
with comfortable padding.
She watched media reports of doctors in the United States and consulted a friend
who works as a nurse there to perfect the design, she said.
The finishing touch? A sticker, with an important message to Vietnam's medical
workers: "Fight Covid-19 disease".
"Keep believing, because we are always with you".
(Reporting by Yen Duong; Editing by James Pearson and Kim Coghill)
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