Starting today, Montgomery County will hand out free N95 masks.  County residents can get up to 4 of the face coverings at 19 county public libraries.  Four million of the masks will be distributed.  The CDC says that N95 and KN95 masks offer better protection against the omicron variant of Covid-19 than cloth masks.

“A key element that helps reduce community transmission is the wearing of a high-quality face covering,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “We know that masks work and having these higher quality face masks as compared to simple face coverings, increases protection. We have these masks available in our stockpile because we planned. I appreciate the work of our Department of Health and Human Services, emergency management, procurement and general services teams for getting them and thank our libraries for ensuring this distribution system is effective, efficient, and equitable.”