Coronavirus News: New Jersey company building plastic barriers to help save lives
NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- Workers across the country are pleading for protection, and the companies they work for are desperate to stay open and protect against the virus.
So, how do you bridge the gap and address those concerns while keeping people employed? Well, one manufacturing plant in New Jersey is transforming its own business to meet that demand.
A manufacturing facility in Clifton used to produce fun custom displays for retail, restaurants, and conventions, until the orders stopped coming.
They're now designing what a new world may look like to get all of us back to work.
"We are building floor stands that go up and we create a clear barrier, so to give them some protection," Sandy Alexander CEO Michael Graff said.
It's like a big see-through sneeze guard.
Northvale Pharmacist David Yoon says it makes him feel a lot better. Yoon had a friend hang thick plastic sheets in front of the register.
"You know when people talk, they tend to spit," he said. "A physical barrier between that, because not everyone wearing masks right now."
Graff said they are making other devices for emergencies.
"We are trying to come up with ideas, but we are having a retail division protection between the cashier and the public," he said.
His visual experience team started producing face shields that can make up to 10,000 a day between three plants in New Jersey, California and Florida.
It's the need, however, for protective room dividers he hopes will not only bring back his furloughed workers, but get others safely back to work.
"If people have ideas, please contact us," Graff said. "We are available to help in any way we can."
As a former firefighter in New City, the CEO said it's like everyone became a first responder because of coronavirus.
If you're walking into a situation and don't know what you're getting into, the barriers don't just provide protection, but peace of mind.
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