The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is distributing 28,000 face masks to state and private prisons after a staff member at Joseph Harp Correctional Facility in Lexington tested positive for COVID-19. The masks were provided by the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
Prisoners employed by Oklahoma Correctional Industries were already sewing 1,200 cloth masks a day and making hand sanitizer for use inside the state's corrections facilities.
Director Scott Crow said he hoped Saturday's shipment of face masks would give staff and families some level of comfort as they try to deal with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Crow said officers and staff members would be asked to reuse procedural masks unless they become soiled.
