The University of Nebraska-Lincoln began handing out four free KN95 masks to every student, faculty and staff member Wednesday.
Mask availability was spurred by a request from the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska and is possible because of a partnership with the State of Nebraska.
Taylor Jarvis, ASUN’s internal vice president and a student representative on the chancellor’s COVID-19 Task Force, contacted fellow task force members to explore options to acquire masks. Task force members from Student Affairs and the Office of Research and Economic Development pursued multiple avenues, including reaching out to state officials.
“Taylor’s request and our throwing a Hail Mary to the state came together at the perfect time,†said Tony Rathgeber, associate to the vice chancellor in Student Affairs. “Our campus community now has access to 150,000 free KN95 masks. That should be enough to get us through this most current wave of COVID-19 infections.â€
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With proper care, each of the KN95 masks can be worn for up to 40 hours, or five days.
Both KN95s and N95s filter 95% of air particles, but N95s are approved for medical settings, generally with head straps, and are produced in the United States.