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Ford manufactures, ships over 1 million plastic face shields

Ford began designing the shields on March 19 after getting a request from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Credit: AP

In this April 2, 2020 photo, Tilliesa Banks, right, an emergency services nurse at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, helps a colleague put on a medical face shield prior to their shift in a triage tent outside the Harborview emergency department used to intake arriving patients who have respiratory symptoms. The face shield was 3-D printed and assembled by a member of a network of volunteers using a design approved and hosted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. says it has manufactured and shipped over 1 million clear plastic face shields to hospitals and first responders all over the U.S.

Spokeswoman Elizabeth Kraft says the company hit the mark on Saturday and sent the 1 millionth protective shield to New York City as part of a shipment of more than 30,000 shields.

RELATED: Ford, GE to make 50,000 ventilators over the next 100 days

Ford began designing the shields on March 19 after getting a request from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

It started building masks at a factory in Plymouth, Michigan, near Detroit on March 23. About 260 employees represented by the United Auto Workers union are producing at a rate of 225,000 shields per day.

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