More than two months after beginning to make personal protective equipment for incarcerated people, corrections staff and others, offenders in the clothing factory at Jefferson City Correctional Center have so far made approximately 216,000 face covers.
The pace of production at JCCC's clothing factory is about 3,000 masks per day, Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said.
Pojmann did not immediately have cumulative totals Friday for three other clothing factories in the state's prisons - in Chillicothe, Farmington and Vandalia.
JCCC's Missouri Vocational Enterprises clothing factory and the three others started making face covers April 1, Pojmann said. In addition to offenders and corrections staff, the face covers have also been distributed to other state employees and the General Assembly.
Distribution of face covers to offenders and staff began April 6, Pojmann said.
She noted JCCC's clothing factory has also produced approximately 8,000 protective gowns - at a current pace of 200 per day.
Missouri Vocational Enterprises operates 22 factories in 12 prisons across the state to provide job training for offenders. Pojmann has previously said manufactured products are sent to government agencies and nonprofit organizations, and no products are sold commercially.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the MVE chemical plant inside Eastern Reception, Diagnostic & Correctional Center in Bonne Terre has also switched to making hand sanitizer, starting March 25, and the prison factory in Cameron increased its output of toilet paper.
An earlier rush on toilet paper by consumers at the time had led to shortages of stock on the market.
Pojmann said the Bonne Terre facility's chemical plant has produced approximately 16,000 gallons of hand sanitizer, and the toilet paper factory in Cameron is producing about 336,000 rolls per week - an increased output of about 20 percent.
She added the Bonne Terre chemical plant "also makes cleaning products, which are in high demand these days."
"In addition, offenders who take part in our Restorative Justice volunteer programs throughout the state have been hand-sewing face masks and scrub caps for health care professionals and other essential workers in the community," Pojmann said.