Toy maker LEGO announced Thursday it has switched the factory in its hometown of Billund, Denmark to make equipment for healthcare workers during the coronavirus pandemic. The factory can make more than 13,000 masks a day, the company said. LEGO is the latest company to switch to making personal protective equipment (PPE) for the men and women on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This week we began to make visors at our factory in Billund for healthcare workers on the frontline in Denmark,” LEGO said in a statement on Instagram, where it also shared photos of the new visors the company is making. “We are so incredibly proud of the team who made this happen. They worked around the clock to create designs and make moulds that can produce more than 13,000 visors a day. We are grateful to have such talented, dedicated and caring colleagues.”
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The visors will help protect the eyes of those working with patients who have contracted the coronavirus, which is highly contagious. “Approximately 100 LEGO employees have been involved in this project, from developing the design and new molds, to working with our supplies to make the visors a reality in just a couple of weeks,” the company told PEOPLE. On Instagram, the news was met with wide acclaim from LEGO fans, who plraised the company for putting healthcare workers first.
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LEGO is still producing its famous blocks at other factories, and has announced several projects meant to help children in need. Back on March 29, LEGO announced a $50 million donation to its LEGO Foundation, which will be split among three groups. One group includes LEGO Foundation partners working with children and families whose lives are affected by COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. This week, LEGO and the charity Fairy Bricks also announced it will donate over 30,000 LEGO sets to the children of National Health Service workers in the U.K.
“We are truly grateful for everything our NHS heroes are doing to keep us safe,” Fairy Bricks CEO Kevin Gascoigne said in a statement Wednesday. “We know that the fight against COVID-19 is keeping many of them away from their families and their children. This is a very small gesture we hope will bring some smiles to families during a very tough time.”
In the U.S., several brands announced plans to switch their factory resources to make PPE supplies for health care workers. Forexample, on March 24, fashion retailer GAP announced on Twitter, “An update on our #COVID19 response: Our teams are connecting some of the largest hospital networks in Calif. w/ our vendors to deliver PPE supplies while we pivot resources so factory partners can make masks, gowns & scrubs for healthcare workers on the front lines.”
