The push to make personal protective equipment in the U.S. is running out steam after an initial surge at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Highly-protective N95 masks being offered for free by the federal government have started arriving in Northeast Florida.

Experts say how often you can safely wear an N95 or KN95 mask will vary depending on how it’s used.

The Biden administration will begin making 400 million N95 masks available for free to U.S. residents starting next week, now that federal officials are emphasizing their better protection against the omicron variant of COVID-19 over cloth face coverings.

The Biden administration will begin making 400 million N95 masks available for free to Americans starting next week.

U.S. health officials have updated their mask guidance, encouraging more Americans to wear N95 or KN95 masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

UF Health is recommending that people wear N95 or KN95 masks in public settings rather than cloth or surgical masks, which don’t fit as closely to the face.

Pollen season for us kicks off with tree pollen, and we’ve seen our cars dusted yellow as early as February some years. First of all, an N95 mask filters out particles that are 0.3 microns and up. Most pine varieties produce pollen particles between 60-85 microns, which would presumably be stopped and filtered out by an N95 mask. Also, you would need to be wearing the N95 mask while you’re outside, and most people do not wear masks outside, especially when alone, like in your backyard. So your cloth face mask could help with pollen, but once again you’d need to be wearing it whenever you are outside.