Those seeking N95 masks for better mitigation of COVID-19’s spread can now receive a pack for free at several locations in Chatham County.

The county health department shared a release Thursday saying it is making several thousand masks available to the public at the three branches of the Chatham County Public Libraries. Each household can receive one box of 20 masks at either the Chatham Community Library in Pittsboro, the Wren Memorial Library in Siler City or the Goldston Library in Goldston.

The Chatham County Health Department said it has received 120,000 N95 masks from the state Department of Health and Human Services. A spokesperson for the department said a “significant” amount of those N95s will be given to community partners for their own reserves or distribution, while an initial 15,000 will be distributed through their libraries.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services allocated masks initially by each county’s population, with Chatham County receiving around 7,000 masks. Director of the Health Department Mike Zelek said the county then requested 120,000 more, which arrived on Wednesday.

Rita Van Duinen, branch manager of Chatham Community Library, picks up boxes of N95 respirators on Wednesday, February 2nd. Chatham County Public Libraries’ three branches will begin public distribution of respirators on Thursday, February 3rd, to the general public. (Photo via the Chatham County Health Department.)

The demand for N95 masks in the region has been high. Orange County Health Department began its distribution of the respirators on Monday at two locations in the county, running out of supplies in around two hours. Durham County paused its distribution of masks on Wednesday, citing all the masks at their county library locations having been taken.

Orange County received 14,000 initial N95s from the state, with about 2,000 going to the distribution site at Orange County Public Library in Hillsborough. The library later reported being out of the masks just minutes after opening. Durham County reported distributing approximately 30,000 masks through its libraries.

A spokesperson for Orange County Health Department said the county’s plan is to now order more masks through the state government now that they are allowed to do so, with additional plans expected to be shared in the coming days.

Hours for the Chatham County Public Libraries are as follows:

Chatham Community Library

  • Monday to Thursday: 9 AM to 8 PM
  • Friday: 9 AM to 6 PM
  • Saturday, 9 AM to 5 PM

Wren Memorial Library

  • Monday: 12 PM to 8 PM
  • Tuesday to Friday: 10 AM to 6 PM
  • Saturday: 9 AM to 5 PM

Goldston Library

  • Monday and Wednesday: 10 AM to 1 PM, 2 PM to 6 PM
  • Tuesday: Closed
  • Thursday: 10 AM to 1 PM, 2 PM to 8 PM
  • Friday: 10 AM to 1 PM, 2 PM to 5 PM
  • Saturday: 9 AM to 1 PM

Organizations seeking to distribute their own batches of N95 masks can request some through the state Department of Health and Human Services here. Additionally, the federal government is distributing part of the 400 million N95 masks it purchased to pharmacies across the United States next week.

While the United States may be declining from the peak of COVID-19’s omicron variant, the virus continues to spread at a rapid rate. Community transmission in Orange, Chatham and Durham counties continues to be in the ‘high’ category, while North Carolina reported more than 127,000 new COVID-19 cases in the last seven days.

 

Photo via the Centers for Disease Control’s Public Health Image Library.

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