L to R: Carl Vinson, HPH Workforce Development Director; Shanyn Chung, HPH Workforce Development Manager; Paul Graham, HIDOE Safety & Security Spec.; and Max Mendoza, HIDOE Safety, Security & Emergency Preparedness Director.
Photo Credit: Dept. of Education

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education (HIDOE) today received a donation of 50,000 N95 face masks from Hawaiʻi Pacific Health (HPH) to help protect students, teachers and staff during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are tremendously grateful to Hawaiʻi Pacific Health for this donation that will help keep our students and staff safe, especially those with existing health issues and those in higher-risk positions,” interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi said. “As one of our four core essential mitigation strategies, mask wearing is a critical part of minimizing the spread of COVID-19 and these masks will help keep schools equipped for in-person learning.”

N95 masks are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to improve protection against the highly contagious omicron variant and slow the spread of COVID-19. Based on state Department of Health and CDC guidelines, the donated masks will be prioritized for employees in health-related or higher-risk positions. Schools continue to have disposable surgical face masks on hand for students or staff who may have forgotten their mask at home or need a replacement mask during the day.

“Hawai‘i Pacific Health deeply values education and is always looking for ways to support the health and well-being of our teachers, staff and students,” said Dr. Melinda Ashton, HPH executive vice president and chief quality officer. “What we know about omicron and this surge is that the greatly enhanced ability of the virus to spread means that we must increase our level of protection. These donated N95 masks add to the precautions already being taken to make in-person learning safer.”

In its mission to create a healthier Hawai‘i, HPH has become a committed community partner of the HIDOE. Other HPH-HIDOE projects include: sponsored health academies at high schools, internship opportunities, clinical training programs for teens, and mobile vaccination events at multiple school locations.