In October, Metro published a blog post explaining that Metro had become aware that some N95 masks in the agency’s possession were of questionable quality. Metro subsequently pulled those masks from its inventory and stopped issuing them to employees.

As we said at the time, Metro would investigate the origin and efficacy of those masks. We can now share some results of the ongoing investigation by Metro’s Office of the Inspector General:

–Metro did its due diligence in purchasing the masks.

— Recent testing by a laboratory hired by Metro found they had a 96.68 percent efficacy rate, which is higher than the 95 percent required by NIOSH. Importantly, these questionable masks appear to be safe despite the fact that they were not found to be approved authentic N95 masks. 

Metro wants to reiterate what we reported in October: we have taken aggressive steps to eradicate questionable masks from circulation. Although there was a scramble by many employers to obtain personal protection equipment early in the pandemic – with little federal guidance – Metro has had and will have an adequate supply of masks and face coverings for its staff.

“We told the public in October that we would investigate the efficacy of  these masks, indifferent of their origin — and I’m pleased we can share what we have learned,” said Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington. “Safety is our number one priority and we will use these findings to ensure we purchase only equipment that is highly effective and authentic.”