The agency said there is now enough supply of NIOSH-approved masks that providers shouldn’t need to use unapproved masks any longer. The announcement comes as a follow-up to the FDA’s April 9 announcement that providers shouldn’t decontaminate and reuse masks anymore.
While the FDA isn’t revoking the emergency authorization for non-NIOSH-approved masks or decontaminated masks, it said they should only be used when providers can’t obtain an adequate supply of approved masks.
“Even if healthcare personnel and facilities are unable to obtain the respirator model that they would prefer, the FDA recommends obtaining and using a new NIOSH-approved respirator before using a non-NIOSH-approved respirator or decontaminating or bioburden-reducing a preferred disposable respirator,” the agency wrote.
The FDA said there are now a total of 6,400 mask models that are NIOSH-approved.
Read the full news release here.
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