Ray From Cleveland
Diamond Member
- Aug 16, 2015
- 97,215
- 37,438
- 2,290
GATESVILLE, Texas (CNN) — Texas prison inmates are making cotton face masks that will be given to first responders for free to alleviate a shortage of medical materials during the coronavirus pandemic, state Sen. John Whitmire said.
Prisoners in a unit at Gatesville Correctional Facility, a women’s prison located about 120 miles south of Dallas, have been producing the masks for about a week and will continue for at least the next week, he said. They expect to produce about 25,000 masks, Whitmire said.
The masks are made from locally grown cotton, rather than synthetic material, so they aren’t of the highest standards, he said.
“They’re not the one you would want in an emergency room, but it sure beats nothing,” Whitmire said.
The prison labor effort comes as top health care officials say there is not enough stockpiled medical protective equipment like masks, gowns and gloves to fulfill the anticipated need of nation’s health care system as it deals with coronavirus.
Texas is not the first state to use prison labor to fight coronavirus. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said two weeks ago that inmates were producing hand sanitizer for the state’s use.
Now, can anybody tell me what's wrong with this? While working and even non-working Americans are making sacrifices to combat this problem, shouldn't prison inmates do the same? It's not really a partisan issue, given the former HUD director, now Governor is using the same resource.
Prisoners cost the taxpayer a lot of money, and in most cases, never have to do anything for the free housing, nutrition, healthcare, legal representation for appeals, amenities such as pool rooms, workout rooms, football fields and so on. What if we expanded that requirement to all prisons? Given the fact this is a national, of not a worldwide emergency, shouldn't they contribute to the solution?
Prisoners in a unit at Gatesville Correctional Facility, a women’s prison located about 120 miles south of Dallas, have been producing the masks for about a week and will continue for at least the next week, he said. They expect to produce about 25,000 masks, Whitmire said.
The masks are made from locally grown cotton, rather than synthetic material, so they aren’t of the highest standards, he said.
“They’re not the one you would want in an emergency room, but it sure beats nothing,” Whitmire said.
The prison labor effort comes as top health care officials say there is not enough stockpiled medical protective equipment like masks, gowns and gloves to fulfill the anticipated need of nation’s health care system as it deals with coronavirus.
Texas is not the first state to use prison labor to fight coronavirus. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said two weeks ago that inmates were producing hand sanitizer for the state’s use.
Texas inmates make masks for first responders
Inmates in Texas have a new job. They’re making masks for people on the frontlines for the coronavirus.
fox8.com
Now, can anybody tell me what's wrong with this? While working and even non-working Americans are making sacrifices to combat this problem, shouldn't prison inmates do the same? It's not really a partisan issue, given the former HUD director, now Governor is using the same resource.
Prisoners cost the taxpayer a lot of money, and in most cases, never have to do anything for the free housing, nutrition, healthcare, legal representation for appeals, amenities such as pool rooms, workout rooms, football fields and so on. What if we expanded that requirement to all prisons? Given the fact this is a national, of not a worldwide emergency, shouldn't they contribute to the solution?