Apr 23, 2020 - Health

Pennsylvania factory workers spend 28 straight days making coronavirus gear

Rashaan Ayesh

Face mask on the street — Photo: Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images

More than 40 factory workers outside of Philadelphia spent nearly a month living at their facility in order to manufacture a component for protective equipment for health care workers battling the coronavirus pandemic, 6ABC reports.

The state of play: The 43 workers at Braskem America, which creates polypropylene, a key element in medical items, volunteered to live in the factory and work 12-hour shifts to meet skyrocketing demand.

The company "is one of the earliest links in a supply chain" for the nation's manufacture of protective equipment, per the Washington Post.
Their work helped to produce tens of millions of pounds of a raw material that will help fashion items desperately needed by hospitals around the country.

What's next: They'll get a full week off before returning to a more normal schedule — with a raise from the company.

Go deeper: The desperate hunt for coronavirus personal protective equipment

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Pennsylvania factory workers spend 28 straight days making coronavirus gear

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