Hundreds of KN95 masks distributed to House members and staff this week are getting the cold shoulder from some who are a bit skeptical of wearing something reading “made in China.”
Staffers said that House leaders gave each office five of the masks to help fight the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19.
But the wording has turned off some members, who face a $2,500 daily fine if caught on the House floor without one on.
Being a little hasty aren’t you Marsha? We’re being forced to pitch our masks & wear one of these KN95’s if we want to step on the house floor. The House issued these to all of us. I’m confident they’ll do the trick and the ‘Made in China’ declaration only adds to my confidence! https://t.co/tislU1KeIk pic.twitter.com/xIXx0WPY8H
— Billy Long (@auctnr1) January 12, 2022
Missouri Rep. Billy Long, for example, tweeted, “We’re being forced to pitch our masks & wear one of these KN95’s if we want to step on the house floor. The House issued these to all of us. I’m confident they’ll do the trick and the ‘Made in China’ declaration only adds to my confidence!”
The “K” in the KN95 designates that it is made in China, and health officials have said there is little difference between these and standard hospital N95 masks, which are the gold standard in hospital settings.
