NC textile mill 'heeds call of nation,' gears up to make 10 million face masks per week

[octoberlib]

Amid warnings of an impending shortage of protective equipment for medical staff, a Gastonia-based textile company is organizing a national effort to ramp up production of face masks for healthcare workers.

Parkdale Mills Inc., one of the country’s largest yarn spinners, is working with companies like Hanesbrand, Fruit of the Loom, and six others to build a manufacturing supply chain for the masks, the National Council of Textile Organizations said in a press release.

The decision, according to NCTO, “heeds call of nation” to help.

While the companies are often competitors in the marketplace, they “are banding together for the greater good of a nation facing one if its most monumental challenges,” the statement said.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article241413386.html?

[Leghorn21]

1. Yesssssss, just

YES!!!

[rzemanfl]

2. Watch Drumpf take credit for this. He couldn't sew one of the those

carboard things with holes in them we played with as children.

[C_U_L8R]

7. Trump couldn't be bothered

He didn't even ask his own daughter's garment company to pitch in.
Wouldn't he want to combat his so-called 'chinese virus' with chinese facemasks?

[customerserviceguy]

12. You can't make very good face masks

out of gold lamé.

[tblue37]

34. Or cheap polyester satin. nt

[JudyM]

43. Really, really good point.

[JHB]

10. He did that yesterday when he gushed about wonderful businesses...

Despite the fact that this is all scrambling to put together something due to lack of planning and preparation.

The companies doing these things could have started weeks ago if he'd been treating this as a real threat and not a PR problem. Any competent administration (and people have been born and grown to maturity, and maybe to retirement, since we last had a Republican administration that fit that description) would have at least been working up plans and talking with companies about what could be needed way back in late January.

What we'll have by this time in April could have been what we'dve had on hand right now.

[Progressive Jones]

25. He will absolutely claim that he has something to do with this. nt

[Fiendish Thingy]

29. He'll take credit for bringing manufacturing back to the US nt

[iluvtennis]

31. Indeed, he will try to take credit. Can't stand this cretin. nt

[calimary]

45. Well, of course.

He loves saying “my administration...”

Most presidents have used first person plural. “Our administration”.

This is just tiresome. HE is tiresome.

[dalton99a]

3. Kick

[bullwinkle428]

4. Fantastic. I didn't even realize there were textile mills of significance remaining in the U.S.

I definitely recall the "Look for the union label" commercials back in the 1970s as a kid, but then, along came Reagan.

[octoberlib]

6. Most of them closed down here. Gastonia was a big mill town but I wasn't aware there was one still

open.

[japple]

30. There are still textile mills and carpet mills around with supporting industries.

We have huge companies--Mohawk Industries and Shaw Industries are just a couple. Mohawk is centered in my neck of the woods. There are other industries that produce fibers for the apparel, textile industries that are located mostly in the SE US.

[jpak]

8. Are these N95 masks?

If not they are useless in a hospital.

[octoberlib]

9. Article doesn't say.

[jpak]

11. I smell a MAGArat

Yup

[octoberlib]

15. Yep, me too. I just noticed at the bottom of the article it said that Pence toured the mill last May

and the CEO worked with WH officials to clear the red tape. We need the masks but I hate that Trump is going to be crowing about it.

[customerserviceguy]

14. If they lessen

public demand for N95 masks, then they will have some usefulness.

[jpak]

17. They are useless for front line medical workers

Useless

Glorified bandanas.

[customerserviceguy]

18. Let me spell it out for you

If John and Jane Q. Public can obtain these masks for walking the dog in the park, then they are less likely to try to obtain N95 masks from a source that steals them from a hospital supply room. That's something that will make more N95's available for health care workers.

[jpak]

19. Let me spell it out to you

There are few N95 masks available for hospitals or the public today.

Go try to buy one.

Anyone using these type of bandana masks just spread the virus.

[customerserviceguy]

20. If someone has the virus

then, yes, anything less than an N95 will not stop it. But even bandanas have a chance of slowing down transmission of the virus to uninfected people, if used widely by folks going on allowed excursions out of the house.

I'm not going to let the good be the enemy of the perfect here.

[jpak]

23. Cobweb to disease

The public does not know how how to don and doff any type of medical mask.

They will just spread the virus out of a false sense of security.

They need to stay in their homes.

[lagomorph777]

32. And when they run out of food at home?

They WILL go out. And anything that even marginally makes them a little safer is better than nothing.

But, you stay home and be perfect. I hope you've got a giant hoard of food.

[jpak]

33. Bandanas or scarfs

Just as effective

[mnhtnbb]

42. The article does not specify the type of mask, but says

the masks were approved and certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Read more here: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article241413386.html?#storylink=cpy

And they will not be at full capacity until 4 or 5 weeks from now when they will be able to produce 10 million masks/week.


This should have been done 6 weeks ago.

[superpatriotman]

13. Called the PR firm, the Lobbying firm

The Board of Directors, and the hedge fund guys who probably own most of the company, then decided to do the patriotic thing.

[craigw]

16. What to do with smaller stashes of supplies?

The children's hospital where my wife works they are not allowed to wear masks. Can't give them to her.

The daycare where my kids are, I'm sure they don't want to wear masks. But I donated some supplies that I felt would help.

You can't sell masks or certain hospital grade supplies on craigslist/facebook/ebay/amazon for even normal prices.
Not everyone is in it to price gouge.

Some people just have a small supply, too big for themselves, but too small for any hospital to care about.

What suggestion do you have for us? Just let them rot?
I've mailed some to people I deem higher risk. Ideas please.

[marble falls]

22. Your attitude is whats going to save us all. Welcome to DU ...

I'd call some hospitals or local EMS to see if they could use them.

If no one can take them, I hope they go to waste, that you and your neighbors won't need them yourselves in the near future before Holy Mike Pence's promised "hundreds of millions" start showing up.

"Take what you need leave the rest." will get us thru!

[Duppers]

24. DUer OhioChick has asked that they be donated to

Hospitals everywhere because they're out or running low. Her son is an ICU physician & he & his g.f.'s hospitals are OUT.

She had spent thousands of dollars of her own money buying N95 masks for them.

So, please, folks, donate any extras you can to your local hospitals.

[Duppers]

26. Check these threads. Thanks!

Doctors, nurses, medical staff are in desperate need of protective supplies.


https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213126793

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213118078

[Duppers]

28. Here's another thread...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213147887

Thanks!

[IronLionZion]

39. Elderly and vulnerable people, churches, homeless shelters, nonprofits

What you are suggesting is perfect for protecting vulnerable people who are not in a hospital setting, but should still have some protection. The virus can spread quickly in crowded homeless shelters, and those folks always have underlying health conditions making it a possible death sentence if they catch it. Your masks can help slow down the spread.

Delivery people and truckers and anyone else who is working hard to get supplies where they need to go might also benefit if they come into contact with lots of people in the line of duty. Also first responders like police, firefighters, ambulance, etc. Grocery store clerks. Food service workers.

[Squinch]

21. Thank GOD! We should keep a list of these people so we can inundate them with

orders for their products when this is over.

[Duppers]

27. THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!!

They will save lives!

Watch tRump take credit for this!!

[AllaN01Bear]

35. eggscllent

[ananda]

36. I hope they will be N95's.

Otherwise, not so good.

[paleotn]

37. Great news...but....

Isn't this government, from the pleas of state governors, ordering the means of production? Shouldn't we let the free market fix all our ills?

Seems there's been a lot of chatter about this lately, even on DU.

[warmfeet]

38. This is like socialism and stuff. People helping other people, oh my!

The orange asshole can go fuck himself. We will get through this in spite of the orange asshole.

[William769]

40. K&R

[SunSeeker]

41. We're going to need BILLIONS of masks. nt

[live love laugh]

44. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 God Bless (the real) America ❤️ nt