CLEVELAND — By late next week, you should be able to walk inside a community health center or pharmacy and get three N95 masks for free. But will this latest effort by the Biden Administration really move the needle in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic?
“It’s a nice gesture and a really nice first step,” said UH Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Amy Edwards. She had some concerns about the plan though. “The very next problem, of course, is that many N95s are meant to be disposable,” she said. The doctor also has concerns about a proper fit, since she says these masks are designed specifically for certain face shapes and sizes. Timing is also an issue for our area specifically.
“Here in Northeast Ohio, as we’re starting to show signs that we’re coming out of our surge, I don’t know how helpful it will be for us,” she said. But even if the shipments are too late to slow the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant, Summit County Public Health Commissioner Donna Skoda pointed out, there’s no telling what comes next.
“I think one of the big unknowns is what’s coming behind Omicron,” she said. “And if, in fact, is Omicron giving enough protection to not have Delta surge again?” Skoda said she welcomes any help the federal government provides, be it free masks or free home test kits. And said masks protect against all airborne diseases, not just COVID-19. As for concerns about a proper fit, Skoda says even an N95 that isn’t perfectly fitted to your face is still an upgrade from an inferior cloth mask.
“You certainly wouldn’t wear it into a medical situation unless it was fit-tested but for everyday use, it would be fine, and it’s a great mask and it’s got a lot of protection,” she said.
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