What does a city do when they need to reinforce the rules around city-wide lockdowns and quarantines? Turn to their superheroes, of course! In Latin America and the U.S., a few caped figures have been stepping in and making it their mission to ensure that citizens stay safe and aware of protocols as governments try to prevent coronavirus from spreading in the region.
In Monterrey, that’s meant that a mystery man dressed as Batman is going around in the iconic Batmobile, urging people on the street to stay indoors amid the pandemic. The identity of the man is unknown, but a few social media videos have captured him calling out specific passersby outside and saying things like, “Hey, you! Return home! Try to go out as little as possible.”
The Mexican publication Telediario managed to catch up with him and ask about his efforts in the country, which currently has about 1,300 coronavirus cases.
“Today I saw entire families, with children. Even though the government has told people that they must remain at home,” he reportedly told the publication. “You still see people in the street acting as if nothing were happening. I can’t solve this situation on my own, so I’m making a call to all of Nuevo León to join me and others and be superheroes like us. Stay at home.”
Meanwhile, in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, another familiar crusader is lending a hand: La Borinqueña—the famed heroine from Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez’s best-selling graphic novel of the same name—is now the face of a crowd-funding effort from a newly formed group called Masks for America. The organization is raising money to purchase masks for hospitals in need while also connecting hospitals with manufacturers directly.
Masks for America has already been backed by Avengers stars such as Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle and Chris Evans. On their GoFundMe page, the group shared that they were able to raise $50,000 to send 25,000 masks for professionals working in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. A shipment they’ve facilitated is scheduled to arrive to health care providers this week, and the page is still collecting money—currently, they have more than $88,000 in donations. One $6 donation is able to get three FDA-certified masks (equivalents to N95 masks) to a hospital, urgent care or medical facility.