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Florida inmates at the Hernando County Detention Center are to the rescue by helping local hospitals and healthcare workers amid COVID-19 pandemic according to a recently published article.

There is one thing that makes rich and poor countries the same as of now, and that's the lack of surgical masks and other protective gear to combat the deadly and infectious disease. As days go by, many reports are circulating about the lack of these basic medical supplies.

FLORIDA INMATES TO THE RESCUE!

To address this problem, a group of women inmates in Florida crafted face masks that will be donated to local hospitals. This will help the medical healthcare workers who combat the COVID-19 pandemic as we are experiencing a shortage of masks.

According to the Sheriff's office, Lt. Teresa Stevens researched and devised a plan on how the inmates can help amid the growing problem of the local hospitals. She learned that there is a high demand for face masks and she then tasked the inmates to craft surgical masks.

Four women inmates at the Hernando County Detention Center started crafting the face masks on March 23 and they were able to produce around 130 face masks on their first day. 

It is also important to take note that before these women crafted the face masks, they were given sewing class where they learned how to iron, measure, and cut fabric to make the face masks according to the sheriff's office.

Lt. Stevens said: "To see the inmates smile as they developed extreme pride and ownership of the project from a deputy's perspective while giving back to the community is a great gift."

OTHER GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE PRODUCING MASKS

Today, there is a high demand for face masks and other basic medical equipment. Everyone should step up and do their share to protect the healthcare workers who work night and day to take care of COVID-19 patients. 

To deal with the shortage of face masks and other medical equipment, some companies turned their typical production site to produce face masks. Some of the are as follows:

MyPillow

Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, announced that he will convert his 200,000 square foot factory to produce face masks. The company is capable of producing around 10,000 face masks every single day. He also added that he is now planning to convert his other factories in the other four states in the country.

Eclipse International

According to a recently published article, Eclipse International and Denver Mattress will be creating face masks using the same material that they used in the mattress. This is as part of their response to the high demand for face masks in the country amid COVID-19.

The motivation to convert their businesses by producing face masks is just few of the ways on how they can help the country. This is after the number of confirmed cases who are positive for the virus continue to mount. At present, there are more than 115,000 cases in the United States and in Florida alone, there are more than 3,500 cases recorded.

Meanwhile, due to the increasing number of cases, there is also a need for more face masks to protect the healthcare workers and those who are not yet infected. People are now scrambling for the sold-out and up cost surgical face masks. 

The Sheriff's office is also planning to make donations to other local hospitals nearby. They are now in close contact with the Million Mask Challenge administrators to help the need of the community to produce more face masks. 

The project of the Hernando County Detention Center will not only benefit the community but this will also let inmates learn and experience a positive environment by helping the healthcare workers and local hospitals even if they are behind bars. 

In this time where there are limited face masks due to its demand, inmates are now becoming the modern heroes. This is the time where people can appreciate the helping hands of the inmates. After all, they are humans and they have a heart too that listens to the need of the people around them.

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