WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is making 400 million N95 masks available for free to U.S. residents.
The masks are available for pickup at pharmacies and community health centers across the country. Click here to find a list of participating retailers.
The comes after federal officials emphasized the masks' better protection against the omicron variant of COVID-19 over cloth face coverings. The masks will come from the government's Strategic National Stockpile, which has more than 750 million of the highly protective masks on hand.
How many times can you reuse an N95 mask?
The U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention says health care workers can wear an N95 mask up to five times. But experts say how often the average person can safely wear one will vary depending on how it’s used.
Using the same mask to run to the grocery store, for example, is very different than wearing it all day at work.
The amount of time a mask is worn is more important than how frequently it’s worn, says Richard Flagan, who studies masks and aerosols at the California Institute of Technology.
In general, he recommends limiting the use of an N95 mask to about two or three days.
With every breath you take in an N95, particles accumulate on the mask, Flagan says. That could make it more difficult to breathe if the mask has trapped a lot of particles.
“They are degrading the performance of the mask,” Flagan says.
The elastic band on the mask could also get worn out and not fit around your face as snugly. It might also get dirty or wet, especially if you’re using it while exercising.
If you notice any of these changes to your mask, it’s time to stop using it — even if you’ve only used it a few hours. And since N95 masks can’t be washed, they should be thrown away once you can no longer use them.
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