Coronavirus: Harrogate school to make 200 visors a day

The school says the visors are fully adjustable and can be cleaned and reused

HGS Visors — The school says the visors are fully adjustable and can be cleaned and reused

A secondary school is hoping to produce about 200 protective visors for healthcare workers every day.

Harrogate Grammar School, in North Yorkshire, said its design team came up with the idea after seeing a tweet from a school in Coventry doing the same.

Using a 2D laser cutting template the team began the process and has already delivered a number of visors to key workers.

A flat-pack version has also been sent to former students working in the NHS.

The production line consist mainly of staff, said Jo Oates, head of art and design at the school.

"We can only have four people because we are following social distancing.

"Obviously we are going at the speed of the laser cutter."

She said one sixth-form student was also helping.

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The visors are 100% plastic so can be cleaned and reused and are also fully adjustable, allowing for no gaps around the head.

"Once they belong to someone they can keep it and keep using it," Ms Oates said.

Staff at Harrogate District Hospital have expressed their thanks for the visors already delivered.

The school said it had received a number of other requests.

Ms Oates said the reaction from health workers had been wonderful: "They are just overwhelmed and can't believe we can help them.

"It's a really enjoyable thing to do. You feel you can put your skills to good use and help other people and hopefully they will save lives."

'Pulled out stops'

North Yorkshire County Council said it had received significant help from businesses in sourcing personal protective equipment (PPE) for its key workers in the care sector.

Chief executive Richard Flinton said: "As soon as we put the call out about the need to maintain our PPE stocks and the need to extend our supply chain, the business community pulled out all the stops on our behalf."

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service some companies had increased production and others had given the authority their own supplies of PPE.

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