50,000 N95 masks donated to Hawaii Department of Education

By Web Staff

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    HONOLULU (KITV) — Hawaii Pacific Health donated 50,000 N95 masks for students, faculty, and support staff with the Hawaii Department of Education.

The N95 masks are the highest recommended masks to protect against COVID-19 and the highly-contagious Omicron variant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“We are tremendously grateful to Hawaii Pacific Health for this donation that will help keep our students and staff safe, especially those with existing health issues and those in higher-risk positions,” Interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in a press release.

The masks will be prioritized for employees in health-related or higher-risk positions, according to guidelines from the CDC and the Hawaii Department of Health.

“What we know about omicron and this surge is that the greatly enhanced ability of the virus to spread means that we must increase our level of protection. These donated N95 masks add to the precautions already being taken to make in-person learning safer,” said Dr. Melinda Ashton, HPH executive vice president and chief quality officer.

Disposable surgical masks can still be used and distributed at schools in addition to the donated N95 masks.

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