MASKS are with us to stay beyond the COVID pandemic, according to a Merbein South company set to make millions of the protective face coverings.
The ALTSA Labs facility, an industrial science business based at the old CSIRO site on River Ave, has installed $10 million worth of specialised manufacturing equipment to make up to five million masks a year.
Primarily for use in medical situations, the masks are sanitised by being bombarded with UV rays, and differ from similar products in that each is sealed in individual packaging, rather than being packed together in boxes, greatly diminishing the chances of a single mask becoming contaminated by human contact.
ALTSA, which stands for Analytical Laboratories and Technical Services Australia, largely works in agricultural fields such as soil and water testing, microbiology and plant DNA, but general manager Ray Harris said the pandemic had created an opportunity for a company that already had the right scientific expertise.
“There’s probably going to be other diseases down the track. The world is so interconnected that it’s inevitable there’ll be others,” said Mr Harris, who grew up locally and recalls touring the old CSIRO site as a Mildura High School science student. “I think that masks are going to be ongoing.”
“Even with COVID… we could have a whole new variation coming out again. It could be another version that comes back to hit us.”
About 10 staff work in the mask factory, which currently can make about two million masks a year. Special imported manufacturing equipment had to be installed through expert advice over the phone and internet, as the equipment makers were prevented by border closures from travelling here.
The company plans to be capable of making more than five million masks a year across two daily shifts when demand grows. There are three types of mask – level 1 for general protection, level 2 for use in emergency departments and dentistry, and level 3 for surgical use.
So far it has mainly sold locally to private medical practices, but is planning bulk packs for schools and wants to sell to the public health system when tenders become available. Eventually, the masks should be available to the general public. The company also makes the masks and its other industrial services, such as water quality testing, available to individuals through its website altsa.com.au.
