Coronavirus: Protective masks being produced at Northern Regional College

Using a design developed by a group of Spanish engineers which was modified by academics in the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University in Belfast, the college has answered the call to provide PPE for healthcare workers.

To date over 250 masks have been produced at the college’s Farm Lodge campus and distributed to hospitals, nursing homes and GP surgeries in Ballymena, Coleraine, Antrim, Larne, Newtownabbey, Magherafelt and Belfast.

Gordon Kane, Assistant Head of Department of Engineering and Built Environment said: “When Queen’s started producing 3D and laser printed masks to distribute to Belfast hospitals, they were swamped with requests from local care homes, surgeries and pharmacies so they reached out to other third level institutions for help.

“The masks may be a relatively low-cost item and easy to produce if you have the right equipment, but they can make a huge difference to healthcare workers during this crisis. Some of our staff and many current and former students are playing an important role as key workers so it is important to do what we can to support them.”

The college has placed an order for additional materials to allow the production of 3D protective masks to continue.

As part of its broader response to Covid-19, the college sourced over 35,000 items of PPE from across all campuses and these have already been distributed for use among frontline staff in local hospitals and nursing homes.

--

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you.