President Joe Biden on Thursday announced his administration would make "high-quality masks" available to Americans for free, as the US struggles to contain the new surge of the Omicron variant and hospitalizations from Covid-19 reach new highs.
Summary
- Washington (CNN) President Joe Biden on Thursday announced his administration would make “high-quality masks” available to Americans for free, as the US struggles to contain the new surge of the Omicron variant and hospitalizations from Covid-19 reach new highs.
- “I know we all wish could finally be done with wearing masks, I get it, but they are a really important tool to stop the spread, especially of the highly transmissible Omicron variant,” Biden said in remarks from the White House.
- He noted that for some Americans, “a mask is not always affordable or convenient to get,” and that his administration would announce more details about how it will distribute free masks next week.
- Some experts have said Americans should be wearing N95 and KN95 masks instead of cloth or surgical masks to avoid the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
- The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not changed its guidance on masking, but earlier this week White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said the Biden administration was “strongly considering” making these higher quality masks more readily available to Americans.