BREMERTON — Cloth masks must be worn at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and all of Kitsap's Navy installations in any area where social distances of 6 feet cannot be maintained.

The order from the Department of Defense, which includes all its properties, was announced publicly early Monday. Personal residences on military bases were exempted.

The order came with instructions from the CDC on how sailors and workers can fashion their own masks.

The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard has also ramped up the production of the now must-have commodity in this pandemic. So far, its crews have manufactured 2,000 cloth masks but hope to be making 2,000 a day soon.

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Dakota King, a nuclear training supervisor, said the sail loft realized there was the supply to make them, and, with help from an internet design, it began a small production run. With help from Naval Hospital Bremerton, workers perfected a design with four layers of grade A linen. The shipyard's sheet metal shop pitched in with bendable aluminum nose pieces so they can better fit to workers' faces.

Production began March 25 and workers are producing up to 500 a day.

“I could not be prouder of our team for thinking outside the box and taking the initiative to explore how we can best serve our workforce and the local community during this dynamic time,” said Capt. Dianna Wolfson, the shipyard's commander.

Masks of any kind are now being recommended by the CDC to be worn in public. Meanwhile, a study found liquid droplets from sneezes, coughs and exhaling can travel more than 26 feet and stay in the air for minutes in the right conditions.

The masks are meant to help workers and could be donated to Naval Hospital Bremerton if needed. But the shipyard acknowledged the masks are "homemade" and not medical grade.

The shipyard had already begun making hand sanitizer to distribute around its vast facility on the waterfront of Sinclair Inlet.

The workforce continues to help fix the nation's nuclear-powered Navy fleet, even as the pandemic rages on. One shipyard worker had tested positive for novel coronavirus before the Pentagon's ban on individual commands publishing such tests last week.

More than 2,000 workers are telecommuting, and many are working staggered shifts to improve social-distancing. Workers over 65 and those deemed vulnerable are out on paid leave.

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Josh Farley covers the military for the Kitsap Sun. You can reach Josh at josh.farley@kitsapsun.com.