US media: Masks exacerbate the gap between rich and poor in the United States

Source: Global Times

As the number of cases of Infection in Aumechjong surges, the American people are finding that the cost of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is increasing. The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) reported on the 17th that U.S. public health experts urged the public to abandon the use of cotton masks, instead of buying N95 masks, and increasing the number of virus quick screenings, but this increased the economic burden of the American people to a certain extent, making the gap between rich and poor in the country more obvious.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 's (CDC) guidelines for the use of masks, updated last week, say disposable N95 or KN95 masks provide the highest level of protection. NBC said a single disposable N95 mask costs about $1 and a quick screening kit per group costs about $24, which is affordable while some people are annoyed by the extra cost. However, there are still some people with economic difficulties who are unable to pay for the "highest level of protection", which highlights that the gap between rich and poor in American society will further deepen with the epidemic.

Image source Visual China

According to a survey of hourly wage workers in the United States by Harvard sociologist Schneider, about 75 percent of respondents said it was somewhat difficult or very difficult to make ends meet during the pandemic; 40 percent said they couldn't come up with $400 in a hurry in the event of an emergency; and about 20 percent said they had lost their meals because of financial constraints.

Hourly wage workers don't have paid sick leave and have to work when they're sick because they have to earn money to support their families, Schneider said. He said that for many workers, it is impossible to spend money on N95 masks and fast screening reagents, they are even struggling to maintain three meals, and it is "really unrealistic" to entrust the task of preventing the spread of the epidemic to people in financial difficulty.

NBC said that although the U.S. government announced that people can apply for reimbursement from private insurance companies for the purchase of virus home screening kits, many people do not have time to tangle with insurance companies, and some people do not have private health insurance at all. Many American workers and experts are disappointed that the federal and state governments have not been able to provide low-cost or free high-quality masks and quick screening kits to the public.

However, according to the "Voice of America" reported on the 19th, the White House announced on the same day that it would provide 400 million N95 masks to the public free of charge from next weekend to control the spread of the new crown virus. The move to transfer such a batch of masks from the national strategic reserve is the largest allocation of personal protective equipment in U.S. history, the statement said. In addition, the Biden administration also launched a beta website for the public to order virus quick screening kits for free on the 18th, and each family can receive 4 copies.