CAIRO — A local business owner used a foreign connection to donate nearly 500 hospital-grade face masks to the Grady County Emergency Management Agency to help combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Jeremiah Horne said he has a friend in the import business with has a family member in China who works in a factory that produces respirator masks.

“It just sort of worked out where we could get them,” said Horne, co-owner of Maryland Fried Chicken, along with his wife Jennifer. “I don’t know if I can get any more, but I was happy to get these.”

On Monday, Horne donated 480 of the masks to the Grady County EMA.

“It’s just a little piece that I can do,” he said.

The masks Horne donated are of the KN95 variety — a slight variation from the N95 respirator masks which the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said are currently in short supply across the country. Horne said the masks are “virtually identical” to the N95 in terms of protection levels and filtration.

Each mask cost about $3 to be shipped from China to Cairo.

Once the masks were in, Horne contacted Cairo City Manager Chris Addleton to ask how they should be distributed. Addleton confirmed a need for the masks and suggested Horne get in touch with EMA Director Richard Phillips, Cairo Fire Chief Bill Schafer and Grady County Board of Commissioners Chairman Keith Moye for advice on how to best utilize his supplies.

The masks will be distributed between the Cairo Police Department, Grady County Sheriff’s Office, Grady County Emergency Medical Service and local fire departments.

“EMA is going to hold on to them and distribute them as needed,” said Moye, himself a volunteer with the county fire department.

Horne said he still has about one thousand masks left over, and he wants to be judicious with his remaining supply. For him, that means prioritizing first responders and healthcare professionals. While EMA hastold him they have a shipment of masks on the way, Horne still wants to hold on to his supply in case they wind up needing more down the line.

If there doesn’t turn out to be a need for them among first responders, Horne said he could figure out a way to distribute them to individuals in the area.

“If I could sell them to the people that can buy them and give them to the people that can’t buy them, that’s ideal because that would give me some funding to order some more masks,” he said. “That’s one idea I’m just playing with here at the moment.”

Horne has contacted Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville and was informed that their face mask needs have been met for the time being.