Thousands of poor quality face masks intended for frontline hospital staff have been given a new lease of life, thanks to the ingenuity of students and staff at Kinsale Community School in Co Cork.
The 10,000 masks were part of a consignment ordered from China for use at Cork University Hospital but were found to cause nose and ear irritation.
Since the end of March, a small team has been making and supplying some 6,000 visors designed by two students at the school using 27 3D printers.
These have been sent to medical staff in hospitals and care homes across the country, among them CUH. Recently they were approached to see if a device designed by the same students, Oisín Coyle and Shane Collins, could be used to improve face masks that had