TSA Agents, CDC Screeners Demand More Effective Masks to Protect Against Coronavirus

After airport security screeners called for the government to provide N95 respirators instead of surgical masks, the CDC has begun to make them “optional” for those employees.

  • By Haley Samsel
  • Mar 11, 2020

Agents for the Transportation Security Administration are concerned about protecting themselves from contracting COVID-19, leading union representatives to push for more effective masks for airport security screeners.

The AFGE TSA Council 100, which represents about 45,000 TSA officers, sent an email on Tuesday to TSA Administrator David Pekoske to supply N95 respirator masks to the agency’s employees, Reuters reported.

Those concerns were escalated by reports last week that at least two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at Los Angeles International Airport tested positive for the coronavirus.

As of now, agents have the option to wear surgical masks, but those masks are not produced to block small particles that could transmit the coronavirus, according to Reuters. The N95 respirators, union president Hydrick Thomas said, can protect wearers from smaller pathogens that spread COVID-19.

“Everything we do is for the safety of the passengers, but at the same time you have to safeguard yourself,” Thomas told Reuters.

One CDC official told Reuters that surgical masks, which were previously recommended to TSA officers, “won’t protect” screeners from getting the virus.

“They just protect us from infecting someone else,” the CDC medical official, who was involved in airport screening, said. “We want to know why we can’t wear N-95 masks. It’s crazy … You might as well have a tissue over your face for all the good it will do.”

In response to the report, the CDC released new guidelines to make the N95 masks optional for those screeners. There are two types of N95 respirators, according to Occupational Health & Safety magazine: surgical and industrial.

Surgical N95 respirators are designed for healthcare workers and fit tightly around the nose and mouth. If worn correctly, they can block at least 95 percent of small airborne particles. However, healthcare professionals are legally required to undergo annual fit tests for these masks, and they are not recommended for the general population.

Industrial respirators are designed to reduce the wearer’s exposure against certain airborne particles and aerosols that do not have oil. Most CDC screeners have been using the surgical respirators.

The federal government is addressing a global shortage, caused by the rapid purchase of the respirators by non-healthcare professionals, by working with manufacturers to produce 500 million respirators in the next six to 12 months. About 13 million are on hand as of last week, according to Reuters.

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • Achieving Clear Audio

    In today’s ever-changing world of security and risk management, effective communication via an intercom and door entry communication system is a critical communication tool to keep a facility’s staff, visitors and vendors safe. Read Now

  • Beyond Apps: Access Control for Today’s Residents

    The modern resident lives in an app-saturated world. From banking to grocery delivery, fitness tracking to ridesharing, nearly every service demands another download. But when it comes to accessing the place you live, most people do not want to clutter their phone with yet another app, especially if its only purpose is to open a door. Read Now

  • Survey: 48 Percent of Worshippers Feel Less Safe Attending In-Person Services

    Almost half (48%) of those who attend religious services say they feel less safe attending in-person due to rising acts of violence at places of worship. In fact, 39% report these safety concerns have led them to change how often they attend in-person services, according to new research from Verkada conducted online by The Harris Poll among 1,123 U.S. adults who attend a religious service or event at least once a month. Read Now

  • AI Used as Part of Sophisticated Espionage Campaign

    A cybersecurity inflection point has been reached in which AI models has become genuinely useful in cybersecurity operation. But to no surprise, they can used for both good works and ill will. Systemic evaluations show cyber capabilities double in six months, and they have been tracking real-world cyberattacks showing how malicious actors were using AI capabilities. These capabilities were predicted and are expected to evolve, but what stood out for researchers was how quickly they have done so, at scale. Read Now

  • Why the Future of Video Security Is Happening Outside the Cloud

    For years, the cloud has captivated the physical security industry. And for good reasons. Remote access, elastic scalability and simplified maintenance reshaped how we think about deploying and managing systems. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

    Connect ONE®

    Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities