Where you can get free N95 masks and COVID tests

Jan 25, 2022
With the help of USPS, tests can be ordered directly from the government. N95 masks will be available to pick up at pharmacies and grocery stores.
A view of an N95 respirator. Pharmacies throughout the U.S. will provide these masks for free.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Those KN95 masks you just bought might not meet testing standards

Jan 20, 2022
We go shopping for face coverings with a self-professed “mask nerd”
A discarded face mask is seen on the ground. It can be difficult for consumers without specialized testing equipment to verify the quality of masks they purchase.
David Gannon/ Getty Images

New viral variants spur calls for better masks

Jan 28, 2021
Front-line workers are especially at risk indoors. Wearing a cloth and surgical mask together is an option to N95s, one doctor says.
Pedestrians wearing face masks walk past a "Prevent the spread of COVID-19" banner in Los Angeles on Jan. 19.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

As wildfires continue, air quality impacts farmworkers — masks requirements vary

Sep 15, 2020
California has regulations, but it's been hard to get PPE to workers in the fields. There's no federal standard.
Cars drive below an orange sky filled with wildfire smoke in Concord, California, on Sept. 9.
Brittany Hosea-Small/AFP via Getty Images