PA Offering N95 Mask Decontamination System For Frontline Workers

PENNSYLVANIA — The state is now offering frontline workers a free decontamination system for their N95 masks in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus.

Amid what Gov. Wolf calls an "unprecedented shortage" of protective gear, the new system is a crucial tool to keep workers protected. The Battelle Critical Care Decontamination System is being made available for free to healthcare facilities, first responders, and other eligible organizations.

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“We are in the midst of an unprecedented shortage of personal protective equipment,” said Gov. Wolf said in a statement. “This critical decontamination service, provided at no cost by the US Department of Health and Human Services (US HHS), gives us another option for making sure that the people at the forefront of this pandemic have the equipment they need to stay safe.”

The system uses vaporous hydrogen peroxide to clean the masks. Each system can decontaminate tens of thousands of masks in a day, according to the state.

Masks can go through the process 20 times before disposal.

The US Department of Health has already opened up one of the sites in Delaware County. The whole process is free to eligible organizations. The only cost is shipping to and from the facility.

>>The latest coronavirus updates in Pennsylvania.