COVID-19: US 'strongly considering' giving high quality masks to Americans

Amid the rise in COVID-19 cases, the Biden administration is “strongly considering” making high-quality masks more available to Americans. However, the director of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky, has announced plans to not change the guidance related to mask usage. Addressing a press briefing on Wednesday, 12 January, Jeffrey Zients, White House coronavirus response coordinator highlighted plans of the US administration to make the high-quality masks accessible to Americans and added that they will continue to follow the science. 

“We are strongly considering options to make more high-quality masks available to all Americans, and we’ll continue to follow the science here. The CDC is in the lead, but this is an act, this is an area that we’re actively exploring,” Jeffrey Zients said in a press briefing. 

Zients emphasised that N95 masks are widely available and the government has over 750 million masks for healthcare workers and first responders. Speaking at the press conference, Rochelle Walensky asserted that the CDC recommends people to wear any mask rather than wearing no mask to protect themselves against COVID-19. Walensky advised Americans to wear a well-fitted mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The CDC director stressed that they do not plan to change the recommendation. She noted that the CDC is intending to update mask guidance on its website to explain to Americans the different types of masks and protection they provide against COVID-19. 

'Preparing an update to best reflect options available to people': Rochelle Walensky

“CDC continues to recommend that any mask is better than no mask.  And we do encourage all Americans to wear a well-fitting mask to protect themselves and prevent the spread of COVID-19, and that recommendation is not going to change,” Rochelle Walensky said. 

“We are preparing an update to the information on our mask website to best reflect the options that are available to people, as you note, and the different levels of protection different masks provide. And we want to provide Americans, the best and most updated information to choose what mask is going to be right for them,” Walensky added. 

Responding to a question about why the guidance related to mask would not change,  Walensky said that the best mask is the mask that Americans can keep all day and wear in public indoor settings. She added that CDC will give information on improved filtration such as N95s, and information the public needs, to choose the right one. Rochelle Walensky stressed that the best mask for people is the mask they can wear comfortably. 

(Image: AP)