A man has created the ultimate invention to survive social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic – the “cuddle curtain”.
Antony Cauvin, a 29-year-old plasterer from Stratford-upon-Avon, came up with the ingenious device in order to finally be able to give his grandmother Lily a hug.
The cuddle curtain consists of a plastic see-through shower curtain, complete with plastic sleeves to ensure no part of the body comes into contact with the other person during a hug.
“We giggled about it but thought, ‘this could actually work’,” Antony told Sky News.
Video captured by his wife Miriam shows the emotional moment Antony and Lily got to hug for the first time in months.
Since being uploaded to Facebook, the footage has been viewed millions of times and garnered more than 160,000 shares on the social media site.
“When you’ve known someone all your life, to be able to hug that person again… it brought a tear to everybody’s eye,” said Antony.
“We never touched any part of Grannan at all – I’m a believer in social distancing and don’t want to put anyone at risk.”
The cuddle curtain has been left hanging outside his grandparents’ house to enable their seven other grandchildren and three great-grandchildren to also benefit from a socially distant hug.
The curtain and sleeves are disinfected between hugs, according to Antony, while users are also advised to wear a pair of gloves for extra safety.
Despite creating a way to embrace loved ones while abiding by the rules, Antony says he hopes his invention will soon be obsolete.
“Hopefully if we find a vaccine for this horrible disease, it won’t have to last,” he said.
