By Jack Johnson.Originally published on Common dream

Senator Bernie Sanders asked Congress on Sunday to take urgent action to ensure that N95 masks are widely distributed to American families, as the highly contagious Omicron variant continues to sweep the country and is unstoppable. Already nervous National hospitals.

“When we face the rapidly spreading variant of Omicron, we should remember that not all masks are created equal,” said Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. wrote On Twitter. “Congress must require the mass production and distribution of N-95 masks. This is the most effective way to stop the spread of the Covid virus.”

“Ideally, a set of masks will be mailed to every American family every month.”

When Sanders called, experts were loudly emphasizing the importance of high-quality masks in preventing the spread of Omicron. Omicron was first discovered in Southern Africa last month and has since become a major variant in the United States and other countries.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate Omicron now accounts for nearly 75% of new Covid-19 cases in the United States, and the United States has recorded the world’s most coronavirus deaths. Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor, warn On Sunday, Omicron’s case “may be higher” in the coming days.

“Although we are happy with evidence from multiple countries that the severity is low, we must be careful not to be complacent about it,” Fauci said. ABC“This may still result in a large number of hospitalizations in the United States.”

With the rapid increase in the number of Omicron infections, public health experts emphasized that medical N95 masks are easily superior to cloth masks, the latter——according to Oxford University professor Trish Greenhalgh-usually just “fashion accessories” that don’t provide enough protection.

Linsey Marr, a virus researcher at Virginia Tech, made a similar point in an article. interview and NPR Last week, “cloth masks will not be cut with Omicron.”

Mar said: “I have confidence in vaccines. If you are strengthened, serious consequences can be prevented. I am also confident in N95 and similar types of respirators.” “And I think with these two things, you can still Do a lot of normal activities.”

Last week, after initially mocking the idea, the Biden administration Announce A plan to distribute 500 million copies of rapid home-based coronavirus tests to U.S. families who request it.But the federal government has not yet adopted a similar mask strategy, although Months of pleading from medical personnel, Experts and legislators.

“Ideally, a set of masks would be mailed to every U.S. household every month-the cost of doing so is negligible compared to the life and economic losses of the pandemic,” doctors Abraar Karan and Ranu Dhillon and patient advocates Devabhaktuni Srikrishna wrote In a column in January statistics.

“Using this mask, combined with other risk reduction strategies, Create a safer working space for basic workers,” the three argued.

In July 2020, Sanders introduce The bill requires the federal government to manufacture and provide high-quality masks for everyone in the country.bill get Dozens of co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and Senate — and the support of some advocacy groups — have made no progress in any of the Houses.

Although the U.S. is no longer Facing various severe N95 shortages hindered the country’s early response to the pandemic. Proliferation of fakes On Amazon and other e-commerce sites.Non-profit organizations, such as N95 plan Try to help people navigate the quagmire of fakes and find genuine high-quality masks.

thanks @????The mission of our non-profit organization is to increase public access to quality, affordable and authentic #BetterMasks like #N95s.
We have the tools to overcome #Omi Keron, Let’s use them all, except #Vaccination, #BoosterJab, #COVID19 test, #ventilation & #filter. https://t.co/iQBh4q4mF4

— N95 project (@projectn95) December 26, 2021

Recently, public health experts criticized the CDC for expressly recommending in its official report that the public should not wear N95 masks. guide, It believes that this type of mask “should be given priority to medical staff.”

Dr. Leana Wen is an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. Tell CNN Last week, “It has been several months since N95 was supplied [has been] one question. “

“If we are to say that we need to wear masks-when we are not from a mask-wearing culture and people don’t like to wear masks-at least suggest that they wear the most effective masks,” Wen said.