Surge in Mask Production Gets Push From Biden Administration (1)

The Biden administration is trying to drive up domestic production of high-quality masks in coming weeks to help stem the rise of Covid-19 cases across the U.S.

The government stockpile of medical supplies contains 737 million N95 air-filtering masks typically worn by health-care workers, Dawn O’Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services, told senators at a hearing Tuesday.

The HHS is looking to award contracts soon to mask makers to produce 141 million such masks per month until Covid cases start to decrease, she said. The contracts will require these manufacturers ...