Masks to be distributed starting next week
WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney, Lt. Governor Hall-Long and the Delaware Department of Education on Tuesday announced a one-time distribution of 125,000 KN95 masks to educators, students grades six and above, and childcare providers across the state. Masks will be distributed to Delaware’s public, private, and parochial schools and childcare providers through school and childcare liaisons.
“There is nothing more important than making sure our children can remain learning in the classrooms,” said Governor Carney. “We have learned the importance of multi-layer masks and masks that fit snugly on your face. We hope that this mask distribution will help students and educators continue to slow the surge of COVID-19 as they have throughout the pandemic. Parents, families and teachers should expect more guidance from their schools about when they can pick-up their masks.”
Districts, charter schools, private schools, and child care facilities will receive KN95 masks from the state to support their in-person instruction efforts. Schools and child care facilities will make the KN95 masks available to staff members as needed or requested. This effort will add to the many mitigation strategies districts, schools, and child care providers have implemented to create safer learning environments, decrease the number of quarantines and offer as many days of in-person instruction as possible. The masks will be distributed based on the number of staff across all schools and number of students in sixth grade and up due to the size of the masks.
Child care providers will need to pre-register through a link that will be sent from the Delaware Department of Education. If you do not receive the email with the registration link by the close of business on Wednesday, January 19, you can email mask.distribution@doe.k12.de.us to be assisted with the registration.
“Our school and child care leaders are working hard to keep our buildings open for in-person learning through operational challenges caused by the current COVID-19 surge,” said Dr. Mark Holodick, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education. “This is another support to help them do that, and I appreciate the state prioritizing these masks for our children, educators, school staff and childcare workers.”
This announcement comes days after Governor Carney signed a universal indoor mask mandate and extended the school mask requirement.
“The science remains clear that face masks and respirators are effective at reducing transmission of COVID-19, when worn consistently and correctly. We want to arm our schools with the highest quality masks possible to continue to allow students to remain in school and continue in-person learning. We appreciate all that schools and child cares have done to support mask use since the beginning of the school year,” said DPH Director Dr. Karyl Rattay.
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