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 The CDC, an agency critics have accused of offering shifting and
confusing guidance amid the pandemic, clarified on its website "that
people can choose respirators such as N95s and KN95s, including
removing concerns related to supply shortages for N95s."
Americans should "wear the most protective mask you can that fits
well and that you will wear consistently," the CDC added.
The United States leads the world in COVID-19 deaths - roughly
850,000 - even as it battles a surge of cases involving the
fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant. Complicating matters is
the refusal of some Americans to get vaccinated.
President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the federal government
plans to make "high-quality masks" available to Americans for free.
In another step, the White House on Friday said the government will
begin shipping 500 million COVID-19 tests to Americans later this
month without charge.
The CDC said it wants to encourage Americans to wear masks rather
than push them to wear the highest-grade face protection, but also
explicitly said that respirators provide the best level of
protection. It said that "loosely woven cloth products provide the
least protection."
"Masking is a critical public health tool to prevent the spread of
COVID-19, and it is important to remember that any mask is better
than no mask," the CDC added.
The CDC said the revised recommendations "reflect the science on
masking, including what we have learned in the past two years,"
since the start of the pandemic.
More Americans have been recently opting for higher-grade protection
amid the surge in cases.
The United States is tallying about 1,800 COVID-19 deaths and
780,000 new infections daily - the most in the world - as well as
record levels of hospitalized patients.
The Omicron-related surge appears to be slowing in areas that were
hit first, including states in the Northeast and South, according to
a Reuters analysis. In Western states, the number of new cases
climbed 89% in the past week compared with the previous week.
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 The CDC last May announced that
fully vaccinated people could shed their face
coverings, as COVID-19 cases were then on the
decline. But in July, the CDC said fully
vaccinated people should wear masks in indoor
public places in regions where COVID-19 was
spreading rapidly. The CDC said this week 99.5%
of U.S. counties currently are covered by the
mask recommendation.
Some U.S. N95 makers told Reuters they had
record N95 sales after Anthony Fauci, Biden's
chief medical adviser, recommended on CNN that
Americans "get the highest quality mask that you
can tolerate and that's available to you."
N95 masks that are worn correctly will filter
out at least 95% of particulate matter in the
air, preventing anything larger than 0.3 micron
from passing through.
Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous,
on Monday will require some employers to provide
"medical-grade" masks - surgical masks, KF94,
KN95s or N95s - to workers at high risk of
contracting a COVID-19 infection on the job.
Masks remain polarizing. Biden, a Democrat, this
week again urged people to wear masks and noted
that about a third of Americans report they do
not wear a mask at all. Many Republican-leaning
states have no mask requirements. Some
Democratic-governed states such as California
have reimposed indoor mask mandates.
Blair Childs, an executive at Premier Inc, a
group-purchasing company for hospitals,
expressed concern about legislation backed by
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders that would send
every person in the country a pack of three N95
masks. Childs said such proposals could "throw
the healthcare supply chain into disarray."
Days after taking office in January 2020, Biden
imposed mask requirements on airplanes, trains
and public transit and in airports and other
transit hubs - actions his predecessor Donald
Trump declined to take. Biden last month
extended the transit mask requirements through
March 18. The CDC on Friday said N95 masks may
be considered for use in places like transit
"when greater protection is needed or desired."
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington;
Additional reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los
Angeles; Editing by Will Dunham, David Gregorio
and Matthew Lewis)
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