Biden says administration will make free high-quality face masks available to all Americans, announces deployment of additional medical teams

The President also announced his administration would purchase an additional 500 million Covid-19 tests -- on top of the 500 million tests he previously announced -- and said the website where Americans can go to get the free tests shipped to them will be rolled out next week.

"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.

 

...Biden also announced plans to deploy a new wave of medical teams to six states to help hospitals combat Covid-19.

 

The military medical teams will support the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, Henry Ford Hospital outside Detroit, University of New Mexico hospital in Albuquerque and University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, Biden said. ...