COVID: United States encourages population to use KN95 face masks

US health officials on Friday urged the population Use N95 or KN95 type masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

this type of mask Best suited for filtering air and are used by healthcare workers, but were previously in short supply, and officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they should be distributed to medical workers in the first place.

In a guidance update released Friday afternoon, officials addressed concerns about the shortage and said more clearly that N95 and KN95 masks that fit well provide the most protection.

However, agency officials noted that some masks are more difficult to tolerate than others, and They recommend choosing masks that fit well and are worn continuously.

“Our main message is that no mask is better than none,” CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund said in a statement.

The CDC has been revising its recommendations on the use of masks during the pandemic.

In its last update in September, CDC officials were more friendly to disposable N95 masks, stating that They can be used in certain situations when supplies are available.

some examples are: being around many people for a long time on a train, bus or plane; Caring for someone in poor health or more vulnerable to severe COVID-19.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced that his administration has planned Make “high quality masks” available to citizens free of charge, including N95.

He indicated that more information would be given next week. According to the White House, the federal government has a stockpile of more than 750 million N95 masks.

JM