(CNN) Five school districts in northeastern Nebraska will use their new 3D printers to print out personal protective equipment for nearby health care workers, Gov. Pete Ricketts said.

"A great example of local people stepping up, meeting a challenge and doing the right thing, figuring out how to solve the problems," he said in a Friday news conference. "This is why we're going to beat this virus, because we have people like that."

The school districts got a dozen high-quality 3D printers to use with junior high students through a state program in 2018 in partnership with Nucor Detailing Center , the major US steel producer's drafting facility in Norfolk, according to the governor's office.

But amid the US coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed at least 1,588 lives, that project now looks very different.

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