Designers, engineers, makers and doctors worldwide have used 3D printing to produce products such as face shields, face masks, ventilator components, hands-free door openers and nasal swabs.
A surgical mask adorns a war memorial statue in Toronto on March 19, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Costanza Musu, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
The war metaphor may be appealing as a tool of political rhetoric, but it hides several pitfalls that, in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, are dangerous.