City of New Orleans distributing counterfeit N95 masks in giveaway program

Late last month, the city of New Orleans began giving away what it said were N95 masks — considered the best commonly available face coverings to protect against COVID-19 — to the public at New Orleans Public Library branches. But The Lens has learned that at least some of the free N95 masks the city has been distributing are counterfeits.

The masks are labeled as “N95s,” and in public announcements, the city has said they are N95s. But the masks available at the giveaways have not gotten the requisite approval from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH — a federal agency responsible for certifying personal protective equipment.

Any mask being marketed as an N95 without NIOSH approval is a counterfeit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

N95 masks provide a much higher degree of prevention against COVID infection than surgical masks or cloth masks, especially when it comes to the recent omicron variant of the virus. The masks are supposed to filter out 95 percent of tiny airborne particles.

Read more: https://thelensnola.org/2022/01/14/city-of-new-orleans-distributing-counterfeit-n95-masks-in-giveaway-program/