THE entertainment world is chipping in to help in the battle against Covid-19, with the latest to dip their hands in the pockets being Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas, and prolific pop artist Pablo Alborán.
Alborán has been hogging the Spanish and international charts just lately with his bilingual hit, Tabú ('Taboo'), a duet with Wisconsin-born Ava Max, who has also recently enjoyed success with her hit Sweet but Psycho.
Both he and Banderas are originally from Málaga – in fact, the latter has been a costalero, or float-bearer, in the Good Friday parades in his home city for decades, and rarely misses a chance to don his costume.
Now, they have each pledged to donate €100,000 to the project Andalucía Respira ('Andalucía Breathes'), which is working on building a latest-generation mechanical respirator for patients who need to be intubated.
These machines are essential for serious Covid-19 cases and, as elsewhere in the world, are in short supply.
The prototype of the ventilator was officially approved on Good Friday by the Spanish Medications and Healthcare Products Agency (AEMPS), meaning it can now be manufactured in bulk and distributed to hospitals which need them.
Banderas and Alborán will each donate €100,000 a year for the next four years to the project which, they said, will 'save lives close to home and beyond'.
The ventilator built by Andalucía Respira has three main advantages over 'traditional' versions – it can be manufactured in record time, within just two hours; it uses standard, easy-to-find industrial parts, meaning limited risk of being unable to source spares; and it has no mobile components, meaning the materials will take a very long time indeed to wear out and the risk of mechanical failure is extremely limited.
This joint annual €200,000 is only a small part of donations given by the two artists to help beat Covid-19, a serious respiratory condition caused by the SARS-CoV-2, a 'new' variant of the Coronavirus – a family of virus which includes the one that causes the common cold.
Pablo Alborán has also released a charity single, Cuando estés aquí ('When you're here'), from which all proceeds will go to the UNICEF Coronavirus Emergency fund.
