[Daily Mail] after they were told they didn't need them and should be saved for hospitals
- The Transportation Security Administration stockpiled 1.3 million N95 face masks, according to a review of internal records and interviews by ProPublica
- It did so as airport traffic dropped 95 percent and thousands of its workers were told to stay home to avoid getting infected with coronavirus
- In early April the Department of Homeland Security told the TSA N95 masks should be 'reserved' for healthcare workers
- Two TSA officials raised concerns about the stockpile and suggested sending the masks to hospitals scrambling to find enough for medical workers
- But the TSA ignored their concerns and DHS guidance as it held onto the masks
The TSA reportedly received more than a million N95s, which block 95 percent of particles that can transmit the virus, from Customs and Border Protection, which found them in an old Indiana warehouse.
The agency also had around 116,000 masks left over from the swine flu pandemic in 2009, a memo shows.
Both of the stockpiles were older than the manufacturer's recommended shelf life, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that expired masks remain effective against spreading COVID-19.
|