Experts Call For N95s To Replace Surgical Masks As Flu, Covid Viruses Spread

Published by: Forbes
Published on: January 15, 2026
By Judy Stone

Nationally, we are seeing very high levels of influenza and, again, a growing wave of COVID-19 infections. A new variant of influenza A H3N2 called subclade K is driving some of this epidemic. Subclade K has already appeared in Japan and Europe and is more severe, especially in the elderly and very young.

Last week, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reported 39,945 hospital admissions^⁠, up from 33,301 admissions the week before. While numbers have varied some week to week, they have been relatively high. There have been 19 pediatric deaths so far this season. The CDC estimates that there have been at least 15,000,000 illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations, and 7,400 deaths from flu so far this season.

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respirators

C.D.C. Brings Back Hundreds of Suspended Workplace Safety Employees

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. placed about 90 percent of the roughly 1,000 employees of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health on administrative leave last April.

Published January 14, 2026

Published by: The New York Times
Published on: January 14, 2026
By Apoorva Mandavilli

The Trump administration reinstated on Tuesday hundreds of employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who had been placed on administrative leave in April.

The employees are all staff members of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a C.D.C. unit charged with preventing work-related injuries.

“This moment belongs to every single person who refused to stay silent,” said Micah Niemeier-Walsh, an industrial hygienist at NIOSH and the vice president of an American Federation of Government Employees union local that represents C.D.C. employees.

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The CSA’s revised standard on respirators should help us all breathe easier

Photo of a doctor (right) who is examining a patient (left). The doctor is wearing a white respirator, and she has long dark hair.

universal masking

The CSA’s revised standard on respirators should help us all breathe easier

Published November 10, 2025

Published by: The Conversation
Published on: November 3, 2025
By Dick Zoutman, Julia M. Wright, Mark Ungrin, Ryan Tennant

The CSA Group — a not-for-profit standards organization — released for review a new draft standard on the “Selection, Use, and Care of Respirators” (CSA Z94.4:25) for workplaces, specifically including health care. This new standard is designed to ensure much better protection for health-care workers and for everyone seeking health care.

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United Kingdom

UK to scrap Covid intensive care kit despite offer to send to Ukraine

Published February 7, 2024

Published by: Financial Times
Published on: February 7, 2024
By Laura Hughes

The UK government is due to scrap the country’s entire reserve of coronavirus pandemic intensive care equipment next month, despite requests to send 2,000 respirators to Ukraine.

The Covid Strategic Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Reserve was created in April 2020 due to concerns about a shortage of respiratory equipment during the pandemic. It includes 6,682 Ventura breathing aids, which are set to be disassembled and recycled by April 1, government officials have confirmed.

The Afya Foundation, a US charity that distributes disused quality medical supplies around the world, said its partners in Ukraine have confirmed hospitals there are in desperate need of additional medical equipment and it was standing by to ship 2,000 of the devices to the country.

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public health measures

Lockdowns and face masks ‘unequivocally’ cut spread of Covid, report finds

Published August 24, 2023

Published by: The Guardian
Published on: August 24, 2023

“When looking at the use of face masks and mask mandates, studies consistently reported the measures were an effective approach to reduce infection. The evidence further indicates higher-quality respirator masks – such as N95 masks – were more effective than surgical-type masks.”

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universal masking

Don’t believe those who claim science proves masks don’t work

Published February 27, 2023

Published by: The Guardian
Published on: February 27, 2023
By Lucky Tran

Masks have played a key role in keeping us all safe throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. At the start, masks helped flatten the curve to protect our hospital systems, and since, masks have helped make public spaces and essential services more open and accessible to everyone. Many studies show that masks work, and they work best when everyone wears a high-quality one to protect each other. Masks are magnificent.

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universal masking

Yes, masks reduce the risk of spreading COVID, despite a review saying they don’t

Published February 6, 2023

Published by: The Conversation
Published on: February 6, 2023
By C Raina MacIntyre, Abrar Ahmad Chughtai, David Fisman, Trish Greenhalgh

There is strong and consistent evidence for the effectiveness of masks and (even more so) respirators in protecting against respiratory infections. Masks are an important protection against serious infections.

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Tag: respirators