The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that medical-grade masks are more essential than higher quality ones, despite the omicron variant.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies on Capitol Hill.
The Associated Press.
The Biden administration is considering options to make high quality masks available to all Americans, according to the White House Covid-19 coordinator, but he did not give a timetable or further details.
The White House is considering a program to give out better quality masks to Americans who want them, with a decision possibly coming as soon as Thursday, according to reports.
Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday that the agency will update its website soon to provide information about different kinds of masks and different levels of protection so that people can make a more informed decision about what mask is right for them.
Walensky suggested that the agency would not recommend that Americans wear N95s or KN95s and not wear other masks, but that it would highlight that the best mask for you is the one you can wear comfortably.
According to experts cited by Kaiser Health News, the CDC does not go far enough in suggesting that Americans wear masks with at least two layers and a nose wire.
The Washington Post reported that the CDC was considering guidance that Americans should be able to wear a mask all day.
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The CDC had resisted wearing N95 masks because it believed they should be used for healthcare workers and not for the general public, but that is no longer an issue, according to the CDC's acting director. The official said the Biden administration has increased manufacturing of N95s and now has 750 million masks for healthcare workers and first responders.
The key background.
Medical experts have strongly urged people to upgrade their masks to medical-grade masks that are certified by authorities in the U.S., China and South Korea, as these masks are omicron variant. The new strain is transmissible, which experts say decreases the protection from cloth masks, as well as surgical masks, which are made of a higher quality material than cloth masks but fit less tightly than N95s. Experts recommend that those who wear cloth masks layer a surgical mask underneath. Many schools and in Salt Lake County, Utah, require people to wear masks because of a growing number of mask mandates. Employers in Los Angeles are required to provide masks for their workers. N95 and KN95 masks are more expensive than cloth and surgical masks, leading to more efforts to distribute the masks for free to those who need them. In addition to the White House's potential plan, localities and states including Connecticut and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have started distributing N95s to residents for free.
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