The US authorities are concerned about safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, they plan to provide Americans with personal protective equipment, face masks in particular. Now, the US government will start to distribute free N95 masks.
A White House spokesperson said that the Biden administration would make 400 million highly protective N95 masks available for US citizens for free at pharmacies and community health centers around the US. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), N95 respirators are more effective at preventing transmission of the virus than cloth and surgical masks. However, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky noted that wearing any mask was better than no mask. People are required by federal law to wear masks on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation. To this end, Senator Bernie Sanders reintroduced legislation to deliver three N95 masks to every US resident.
Researchers in Australia found that fabric masks were at least 50% effective at filtering virus particles, while N95 and surgical masks were about 99% effective. Moreover, the Biden administration will distribute free at-home COVID-19 tests to American households. Each family is entitled to four coronavirus tests.
