COLUMBUS, Ohio — To help healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio, manufacturers have partnered with hospital groups to create much-needed personal protective equipment, Gov. Mike DeWine announced in a press conference Thursday.
A total of 19 manufactures have partnered with three different hospital groups to begin large-scale production of face shields that can be sterilized and reused by hospital staff, DeWine said. The manufacturers were able to move from the prototype stage to the production stage in just two weeks and have found suppliers to secure the raw materials needed for the face shields.
Here is an example of what the face shields will look like! #ThankYou to all of the partners involved! #InThisTogetherOhio pic.twitter.com/h0HeqlXj28
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) April 9, 2020
Over the next five weeks, DeWine said the manufacturers will be able to create 750,000 to one million face shields that will then be delivered to the Ohio Department of Health and immediately distributed across the state of Ohio.
“The purpose is not for us to hold them. The purpose is for us to get them out and we intend to do that,” DeWine said.
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