The governor of Wisconsin has announced that he has distributed over 5 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to fight COVID so far in 2022.
In a press release obtained by The Wisconsin Daily Star, Governor Tony Evers said, “Keeping Wisconsinites healthy and safe continues to be my top priority as the landscape of this pandemic continues to shift and evolve.”
“In addition to getting vaccine shots in arms and expanding our COVID testing efforts, ensuring that folks have access to high-quality masks and respirators is key to helping keep people safe and preventing the spread of COVID while ensuring our kids continue learning in the classroom, our small businesses and main streets recover, and our workers to stay on the job,” he said.
According to the press release from Evers’ office, Wisconsin has distributed over 5.4 million K95/KN95 respirator masks at over 130 different locations so far in the month of January.
The release goes on to outline that 533,000 of the masks were distributed at schools, 400,000 just took place last week.
Evers’ office cited the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), saying that recent guidance from them indicates that there are masks that provide better protection than others. According to the press release, “All masks and respirators provide some level of protection against the virus that causes COVID, but some masks and respirators may offer more protection than others.”
“Wearing a well-fitting mask in public places is a critical tool to slow the spread of COVID, and it is important to remember that any mask is better than no mask,” said Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake. “To protect yourself and others from COVID, wear the most protective mask you can that fits well and that you will wear consistently.”
The governor’s office did not respond to The Daily Star’s request for comment asking where the funding for the free masks was coming from or how much the program cost.
According to Wisconsin’s COVID dashboard, there have been over 11,000 newly confirmed COVID cases within the last 7 days. According to the dashboard, all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties are in the critically high transmission category.
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Hayley Feland is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun and The Wisconsin Daily Star | Star News Network. Follow Hayley on Twitter or like her Facebook page. Send news tips to [email protected].
Photo “Governor Tony Evers” by Governor Tony Evers.
