During The White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing on Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence said that Apple has pledged to donate 9 million N95 respirator masks to healthcare facilities across the U.S. as they combat the COVID-19 pandemic. “And I spoke today, and the president spoke last week, with Tim Cook of Apple. And at this moment in time Apple went to their store houses and is donating 9 million N95 masks to healthcare facilities all across the country and to the national stockpile,” Pence said.
N95 mask are named thusly: “N” for Not resistant to oil. Used when oil particulates are not present. And “95” for the Minimum Efficiency Level of 95%. More info here.
Apple is one of several California tech companies to give away N95 masks. In addition to Facebook, Salesforce, Tesla and IBM have also announced mask donations.
Facebook has also said it is donating its stockpile of 720,000 masks purchased during the California wildfires last year, which degraded the air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Our teams at Apple have been working to help source supplies for healthcare providers fighting COVID-19. We’re donating millions of masks for health professionals in the US and Europe. To every one of the heroes on the front lines, we thank you.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 21, 2020
MacDailyNews Take: Thanks, Apple, Facebook, Salesforce, Tesla, and IBM for your generous donations of millions of N95 protective masks!
MacDailyNews Note: More info on the Prevention & Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) via the U.S. CDC is here. Track the Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) here.
As the article explains, there are different types of face masks and Apple is donating nine million N95 masks, which are the ones needed when dealing with Coronavirus.
Many other organisations make a big deal about providing face masks, but they are not N95 grade and only suited for less demanding work.
If anybody considers buying such masks for themselves, wearing a high grade mask is only part of the solution, it’s vital to make sure it is fitted properly. Medical professionals perform a “fit test”, where the mask is worn and then a sort of bubble hood is placed over the head and a sweet tasting powder is sprayed into the hood. If you get a sweet taste or smell, you are not wearing the mask properly. These tests have been treated casually for years, but now even the most experienced hospital doctors are taking it seriously and testing conscientiously.