ALBANY – New York is making its own hand sanitizer to distribute to schools, governments, prisons and some communities affected by the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

With a shortage of hand sanitizer due to the illness and the growing cost of buying it, New York is turning to its state-owned business run in its prison system to produce more than 100,000 gallons of week of hand sanitizer, called NYS Clean.

"It’s much cheaper for us to make it ourselves than for us to buy it on the open market," Cuomo said at a press briefing Monday as the coronavirus cases in New York surged to 142, the most in the nation and slightly more than the state of Washington.

Cuomo said the scent is like a "floral bouquet" and will be produced less expensively through CorCraft, the state's prison-run business, than if the state bought it.

The product is being made by prisoners at the Great Meadow Correctional Facility, a state maximum-security prison in Washington County.

It will be provided free to local governments, schools, prisons and other public agencies.

"We are introducing NYS Clean hand sanitizer made conveniently by the state of New York," Cuomo said, displaying the product at the state Capitol.

"This is a superior product to products now on the market."

More:Coronavirus in New York: How local health departments are responding

He said Corcraft already made glass cleaners, vehicle fluids and other solubles, so it was an easy switch.

He said New York can make a one-gallon bottle for $6.10 and a seven-ounce bottle for $1.12, which is much cheaper than if the state tried to buy it on the open market. It is also a higher alcohol content than what is on the market, he said.

He also warned that New York would start to mass produce it if price gouging for hand sanitizer continues.

"To Purell and Mr. Amazon and Mr. eBay, if you continue the price gouging, we will introduce our product, which is superior to your product, and you don’t even have the floral bouquet. So stop price gouging," Cuomo said.

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Prison-rights advocates knocked the new product, saying prisoners shouldn't be paid less than $1 an hour and shouldn't be exploited.

“We are disgusted at Governor Cuomo’s decision to exploit prison labor to push back the imminent public health crisis presented by COVID-19 while doing absolutely nothing for incarcerated people across the state," the groups, including Citizen Action of NY and VOCAL-NY, said in a statement.

Lawmakers last year wanted to increase the prison minimum wage to $3 an hour; the wages currently range between 10 cents and $1.14 per hour. But the measure was not passed before the legislative session ended last June.

Rich Azzopardi, a senior advisor to Cuomo, dismissed the criticism of the new work.

"A central part of prison rehabilitation is job training and skill development, and this is part of that existing program that’s been in place for years," Azzopardi said.

More:New York now has the most coronavirus cases in the nation. Here's where it has surged

Joseph Spector is the New York state editor for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at JSPECTOR@Gannett.com or followed on Twitter: @GannettAlbany

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