US President Joe Biden plans to distribute millions of face masks to Americans in communities hard-hit by the coronavirus, starting next month, as part of his efforts to ensure “equity” in the pandemic response.
Mr Biden, who like Donald Trump’s administration considered sending masks to all Americans, is instead aiming to focus on underserved communities and those bearing the brunt of the outbreak.
Mr Trump’s administration shelved the plans entirely.
Masks will be distributed through federally qualified community health centres and the nation’s food bank and pantry systems, the White House announced on Wednesday.
The Departments of Defence, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture will be involved distributing more than 25 million American-made cloth masks in adult and child sizes.
The White House estimates they will reach between 12 million and 15 million people.
“Not all Americans are wearing masks regularly, not all have access and not all masks are equal,” said White House Covid-19 co-ordinator Jeff Zients.
The White House is not distributing the safer N95 masks, of which the US now has abundant supply after shortages early in the pandemic.
The cloth masks adhere to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and “certainly they meet those requirements set by our federal standard", said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
Mr Biden hinted at the move on Tuesday during an online discussion with four black essential workers.
He said he expected his administration to send millions of masks to people around the country “very shortly".
Mr Biden has asked all Americans to wear face masks for the first 100 days of his term, saying models showed it could help to save 50,000 lives.
He also required masks to be worn in federal buildings and on public transport to try to slow the spread of the virus.
In late January, a Quinnipiac poll showed that 75 per cent of Americans said they wore a mask whenever they went out in public and were around others, and another 12 per cent said they wore a mask most of the time.
Mr Biden has made a virtue of his public displays of wearing a mask, whereas Mr Trump was only rarely seen covering his face while president.
Mr Biden has also required the use of masks around the White House, unlike Mr Trump, whose White House was the scene of at least three outbreaks of the virus.
Ms Psaki suggested this month that logistical concerns underpinned the decision to scale back the plans to send masks to all Americans.
“I think there are some underlying questions about how you target them, the masks, where they go to first. Obviously, it couldn’t happen immediately,” she said.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDamian%20Szifron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shailene%20Woodley%2C%20Ben%20Mendelsohn%2C%20Ralph%20Ineson%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
ORDER OF PLAY ON SHOW COURTS
Centre Court - 4pm (UAE)
Gael Monfils (15) v Kyle Edmund
Karolina Pliskova (3) v Magdalena Rybarikova
Dusan Lajovic v Roger Federer (3)
Court 1 - 4pm
Adam Pavlasek v Novak Djokovic (2)
Dominic Thiem (8) v Gilles Simon
Angelique Kerber (1) v Kirsten Flipkens
Court 2 - 2.30pm
Grigor Dimitrov (13) v Marcos Baghdatis
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Christina McHale
Milos Raonic (6) v Mikhail Youzhny
Tsvetana Pironkova v Caroline Wozniacki (5)
Armies of Sand
By Kenneth Pollack (Oxford University Press)
The Kites
Romain Gary
Penguin Modern Classics
Brief scores:
Toss: India, opted to field
Australia 158-4 (17 ov)
Maxwell 46, Lynn 37; Kuldeep 2-24
India 169-7 (17 ov)
Dhawan 76, Karthik 30; Zampa 2-22
Result: Australia won by 4 runs by D/L method
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%3Cp%3E38.7C%20(101.7F)%20set%20in%20Cambridge%20in%202019%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Most wanted allegations
- Benjamin Macann, 32: involvement in cocaine smuggling gang.
- Jack Mayle, 30: sold drugs from a phone line called the Flavour Quest.
- Callum Halpin, 27: over the 2018 murder of a rival drug dealer.
- Asim Naveed, 29: accused of being the leader of a gang that imported cocaine.
- Calvin Parris, 32: accused of buying cocaine from Naveed and selling it on.
- John James Jones, 31: allegedly stabbed two people causing serious injuries.
- Callum Michael Allan, 23: alleged drug dealing and assaulting an emergency worker.
- Dean Garforth, 29: part of a crime gang that sold drugs and guns.
- Joshua Dillon Hendry, 30: accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocain.
- Mark Francis Roberts, 28: grievous bodily harm after a bungled attempt to steal a £60,000 watch.
- James ‘Jamie’ Stevenson, 56: for arson and over the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
- Nana Oppong, 41: shot a man eight times in a suspected gangland reprisal attack.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
