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This week, WW is launching "Distant Voices," a daily video interview for the era of social distancing. Our reporters are asking Portlanders what they're doing during quarantine.
On March 27, Dr. Dana Anthony Yip posted a video to YouTube with a simple but revolutionary idea: If you don't have a mask to wear during the COVID-19 pandemic, wear your boxer briefs on your face.
"You can laugh," he said, "but it protects! Hopefully, it will help a few people in this world."
The video—"How to Make a Dual Layer Face Mask Out of Boxer Briefs"—has nearly 7,000 views. It's the brainchild of Yip, a pediatric dentist in West Linn, Ore., whose practice is marked by whimsy—his office is painted like a rainforest, and his website displays him and his dental hygienists as elves.
"We dentists are out of work through June 15," he says. "So I am trying to make community service messages to entertain me and educate our community."
His office has been closed for two weeks, giving Yip time to ponder what common household items could be converted into facial protection without any cutting or sewing. WW asked him to demonstrate—and then the paper's editor tried it himself. See the result in the video above.