By Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, Garrett County Health Department
The Garrett County Health Department has begun to distribute free masks as promised by Governor Larry Hogan. To date, the Health Department has distributed over 8,000 masks to partner agencies and has requested more KN-95 masks from the Maryland Department of Health.
To protect yourself and others from the spread of COVID-19, the CDC recommends wearing the most protective mask you can that fits well and that you will wear consistently. In an attempt to provide more protection to Marylanders, the Governor announced an upcoming distribution of 20 million N95 and KN95 masks, which provide better protection than surgical and cloth masks.
The health department has provided masks to the Ruth Enlow Library System to distribute them through their library branches in each community. The Health Department will also distribute the KN-95 masks at testing and vaccination locations. At this time masks are limited to 5 per person.
Mask distribution will continue as long as supplies are available. Additional masks may be provided by Maryland Department of Health in the future.
“Masking is just as important now as it was at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Garrett County Health Officer Bob Stephens. “It’s one of the ways we can protect ourselves and others from COVID-19. It is very important to make sure your mask fits snuggly to your face to reduce the chance of particles getting around the mask in either direction.”
The masks which are being distributed are disposable and cannot be laundered. If they become soiled or wet, they should be discarded.
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