AFL prints hundreds of faceshields.

Fiber optics-manufacturer AFL has added faceshields to its repertoire.

The Spartanburg-based manufacturer has already distributed more than 100 face shields to Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System's Spartanburg Medical and Pelham Medical centers among other Upstate hospitals.

"We can't thank AFL enough for its support," Tony Kouskolekas, president of Spartanburg Regional's Pelham Medical Center, said in a news release. "The outpouring of support we've received from the community has been truly inspiring."

Kelvin Turner, an applications engineering manager at AFL, first felt compelled to turn the manufacturer's attention to personal protective equipment production after hearing about the possible local shortage of N-95 masks from his mother, a nurse practitioner, according the release.

He then decided to take the next step and settled on face shields instead, as he could not find any local face shield distributors.

"Looking into both masks and face shields, I realized that face shields were faster to make and posed no health risk to the medical staff when wearing them," Turner said in the release. "Additionally, face shields provide greater protection from exposure to bodily fluids."

He...