To combat the global shortage of face masks amid the coronavirus outbreak, American sports footwear and apparel manufacturing company New Balace has pivoted their manufacturing facilities to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers.

The Boston-based brand posted the update on Instagram with an image of a mask and text that says “Made shoes yesterday. Making masks today.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-QcLfKlTu3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

New Balance will be producing the 100,000 masks by mid-April at its Lawrence, Massachussetts and Norridgewock, Maine factories, while simultaneously ensuring it advances face mask design and material experimentation to meet FDA requirements.

“We are producing prototypes for face masks in our Lawrence, MA manufacturing facility and hope to scale production using our other New England factories soon. We are coordinating our efforts with our government officials and local medical institutions as well other U.S. consortiums and testing facilities,” the company said in a statement.

This move comes after consulting with healthcare professionals and and one week of prototype development.

The current New Balance face mask were created from available New Balance material that was approved for use by medical as well as research and development institutions, subsequently resulting in products that are reminiscent of the brand's footwear.

New Balance face masks mask have non-woven melt blown fabric, layers of polyesterand nylon, five layers of polyurethane foam, and elastic laces from the brand’s sneakers, which is used as the masks strapping mechanism.

“This is not a commercial opportunity. NB is pursuing break-even pricing and/or donations for the face mask. This initiative has kept many of our associates proudly engaged during this economic and public health crisis while our traditional retail customers are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” New Balance said in a press release.