mola lenghi went to a production facility in georgia struggling right now tohde eportehe fore at medicom's augusta, georgia factory is buzzing. they're working nearly around the clock to fill demand. >> we're really busy and even been doing some overtime. we've been working on the weekends try to make sure we get all of our customers what they need. >> reporter: protective masks of every kind are flying off store shelves around the country, as fears of a spreading coronavirus have catapulted sales of protective medical supplies. >> trying to h together. >> reporter: guillaume labrador is the chief operating officer of medicom. what sort of numbers in terms of increase you seen here at your plants? >> we can't cope with the and in. the demand is multiplied by five, ten. it's just out of any proportion that we've seen in the past. >> reporter: this factory is moving as briskly as it can, but it might not be fast enough to keep up with the nervous public's appetite. >> we don'tecnd t the general public. >> reporter: denver health chief medical officer and infectious disease researcher dr. con

. >> reporter: here at medicom augusta, georgia factory is buzzing. they're work nearly around the clock to fill demand. protective masks of every kind are flying off store shelves across the country. guillaume laverdure is the chiefet operating officer of medicom, a global supplier of infection-control products. and this struggle to meet demand is not specific to yu country. it's industry-wide? >> it's all over the industry nall over the countries. >> we don't recommend for them . >> rter:enver heedical officer e savorprice says the dwindling masks of shortage is concerning. >> i worry about our ability to deliver continued care care. >> reporter: a standard surgical mask is effective at resisting large, airborne droplets or other fluids but is not designed to filter viruses. its loose fo makes it easier for droplets to enter around the edges of the mask. the nknife respirator is an upgrairkd a tight fitted mask that forced inhaled air towards the mask's body and not its ages. it's ce ing out 95% of particulates, including small droplets, but not vir

medicom's coo says production demands are more challenging than in the past given that so much of the global supply comes from china and the virus has really slowed export capacity. >> it's coming from north america. that is a good thing but we have a few components coming from china. they are not on an export ban because they are not finished products but the demand is so big that there is disruption in the supply chain there is a huge cost increase. >> now medicom is looking to add about 30 workers in the next few months, planning to also move to about 24-hour production it is going to be a tall order in this historically tight labor market employment here in georgia is at record highs but the need for the face masks is also really great the world health organization said demand has increased sixfold since the coronavirus first broke out. it's also important to note they do manufacture these surgical masks here they make the n95 respirators in france they obviously cannot leave the country. they are made according to eu guidelines they may look at making n95 respirators here in the

. >> reporter: the floor here at medicom's augusta, georgia, factory is buzzing.to fill demand. >> we're really busy and we've even been doing some overtime, we've been working on the weekends to try to make sure we get all of our customers what they need. >> reporter: protective masks of every kind of flying off store shelves around the country. including a run on hand sanitizer, as fears of a spreading coronavirus have catapulted sales of protective medical supplies. >> trying to help government entities to work together. >> reporter: guillaume laverdure is the chief operating officer of medicom. >> what sort of numbers in terms of increase have you seen here at your plants? >> the demand is multiplied by 5, 10. it's just out of any proportion that we have seen in the past. >> reporter: this factory is moving as briskly as it can, but it might not be fast enough to keep up with the nervous public's appetite. >> we don't recommend them for the general public. >> reporter: denver health chief medical office and infectious disease researcher dr. connie savor price