Chicago area pharmacies began giving out free N95 face masks on Friday. The free masks are coming from the federal government’s strategic national stockpile.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week stressed that better masks - like the N-95 - are a safer bet for those at risk. One South Florida.
hearing it and seeing it from people in your everyday lives. i m hearing from a lot of people, family and friends, colleagues, who are seeing this. i m curious, does this simply underscore just how transmissible this is and has the speed of this been eye-opening even for you? yeah, good evening, david. thank you for having me back. the speed of this transmission has been eye-opening for all of us. even in the last week or ten days, it s moved faster than i expected. and it s spreading quite rapidly across the country. i wanted to bring up something we heard late this afternoon in new york city. he said, we are seeing a steep rise in cases in new york city, coupled with the omicron variant. he goes as far as saying, upgrade your mask to a kn-95. they are signaling here in new york to take this seriously. yeah, absolutely, david. this variant is spreading wid widely. for people who are, you know, i
our back, things could get really bad, particularly for the unvaccinated. reporter: authorities are urging caution with a new study making headlines tonight, that if true may partially explain why omicron is so transmissible. researchers at the university of hong kong estimate that the omicron virus could multiply 70 times faster in the bronc y all tubes than delta. the study has not yet been made public for review. today, long lines for testing. new york city bracing itself with a spike in numbers. nearly 3,800 new covid cases every day. it is clear that the omicron variant is here in new york city, in full force. reporter: the city planning to distribute home covid tests and kn-95 masks, urging residents to upgrade or double mask. covid cases forcing broadway shows like the tina turner musical and hamilton to cancel