McHenry Times

City of Crystal Lake issued the following announcement on April 13.

Crystal Lake’s manufacturers are stepping up and finding new ways for their companies to help fill the gaps in desperately needed products by switching gears and making products that are in short supply due to COVID-19.

AptarGroup, Inc., headquartered in Crystal Lake at 265 Exchange Drive, is a global leader in drug delivery, consumer product dispensing and active packaging solutions. Aptar recently submitted its safety and effectiveness data to the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization approval for a solution that allows for easy disinfecting and reuse of the N95 mask. The N95 masks are desperately needed by healthcare personnel due to the shortage of disposable masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The process being proposed to disinfect the N95 mask requires a small strip of Aptar’s ActivShield to be placed inside a regular one-gallon plastic bag. The strip then releases a controlled amount of chlorine dioxide inside the sealed bag over 3 hours which decontaminates the N95 mask and it is ready to wear again. The company is working to provide approximately 4 million ActivShield strips per week and is working to expand its production capacity with the intent to deliver 10 million per week by the end of April. Aptar’s President of CPS Technologies, John Belfance, said “we are extremely encouraged by the promising data generated so far and are eager to deliver this technology to the front line and support the fight against the pandemic. If the FDA approves the EUA, then ActivShield will immediately become available for this important use.”

Autotrol Corporation, located at 365 Prairie Street, is an industry leader in custom AC and DC gear motors. They recently expanded their facility and operations to begin bottling hand sanitizer products. COVID-19 has significantly increased the demand of hand sanitizer products to levels that have been unable to be met by existing suppliers. The company is in the process of getting three fully automated lines operational at their Crystal Lake location and plans to hire 30 additional employees over the next few weeks.

At a time when both the retail and commercial economy is struggling it is reassuring to see how these Crystal Lake manufacturers have been able to quickly adapt and find new ways to provide for their customers and the community!

Original source can be found here.