Prisoners in Germany’s Bavaria to produce face masks

The southern German state of Bavaria announced on Friday that it will include prisoners in the production of face masks as part of efforts to continue in curbing the coronavirus.

Officials have purchased 65 modern high-speed sewing machines on short notice and redesigned existing workplaces in the correctional facilities for mask production, according to a Bavarian Justice Ministry press release.

The ministry added that Bavaria aims at making prisoners — who will sew rubber strands onto mask blanks — create 1.6 million masks per year, NBC News reported.

To date, Germany reported more than 150,000 coronavirus cases.