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Lake County inmates sewing 10,000 masks to help keep local medical professionals protected during COVID-19 pandemic

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Thousands of masks are being created by inmates in the Lake County Jail to help keep local medical professionals protected during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The people participating are part of the jail’s sewing and textiles work program, which launched two years ago to help give people skills to use in the workforce when they are released.

With personal protection equipment in short supply, the masks they are making will be sent to Lake County EMS.

“Coronavirus

READ: Central Florida quilter puts sewing skills to use creating mask covers for health care workers

“They are designed for patient care, meaning that as a patient presents with symptoms such as fever and cough, (the masks) will be used to be placed on the patient and help stop the spread of COVID-19,” said John Herrell, with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office partnered with Lake Support and Emergency Recovery Inc. (LASER), which provided all of the materials for the masks.

“They’ve asked us to produce up to 10,000 of them, and once we get those made we will continue to make more and we will as long as the need exists,” Herrell said.

Myrt Price

Myrt Price, WFTV.com

Myrt Price joined the eyewitness news team as a general assignment reporter in October of 2012.

Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.

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