California prison employees getting help with coronavirus gear from inmates

Inmates are making 10,000 masks a day for use inside California’s state prisons, where the coronavirus outbreak has spread to dozens of staff and inmates.

The California Prison Industry Authority, which trains inmates for work after prison, has set its fabric program to making the reusable cotton masks, according to a news release.

Seventy-seven correctional officers and 55 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state’s prisons, according to the most recent numbers posted by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, is spreading in the confined spaces despite screening at prison gates, restrictions on visits and other measures the corrections department has taken to try to slow the virus.

About 950 inmates are making masks at seven prisons, according to CalPIA spokeswoman Michele Kane.

The facilities making the masks are Mule Creek State Prison, California Institution for Women, California Men’s Colony, Sierra Conservation Center, Correctional Training Facility, California Correctional Institution, and Centinela State Prison, according to the release.

The inmates in the production training program are also producing hand sanitizer for use in the prisons. The program’s inmates also produce food for the prisons.s

The two-layer masks are washable, according to the news release.

“Just like private and public industries, we are pivoting some of our existing programs to help produce these masks so we can contribute to the response against COVID-19,” CALPIA General Manager Scott Walker said in the release.

This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 11:46 AM with the headline "California prison employees getting help with coronavirus gear from inmates."