Schools Fight to Stay Open, Rochester Teachers Await Quality KN95’s

While schools in Monroe County fight to stay open during the surge of COVID-19, there’s new concern over the quality of masks teachers have received. The masks that are in question are KN95s, which according to the data, are the most effective in fighting the spread of the omicron variant. Monroe County received and distributed what were supposed to be more than 300,000 high-grade KN95 masks, and several teachers reported that they were far from protective.

Teacher Sara Malahosky of Rochester stated: “When I came in on Tuesday, there was one mask in everyone’s mailbox. I held it up and I could see through it and could see my fingers…To get one mask that is pretty thin didn’t make me feel very safe. I don’t know any teacher that is wearing that mask…Even trying to purchase them online, I bought a case of 30 for $25 in December and that’s up to $50 now. Even if I wanted to provide it on my own, I can’t.”

Source: 13 WHAM