Teachers and students - Please Note:

Starting Monday, March 30, we will be posting Daily News Articles and other content on a scaled-back schedule.  We will do our best to provide a balance of coronavirus related content, as well as other news stories. (Please note: it is quite challenging to find news on any other topic than the coronavirus, but we will do our best.)

**For the most accurate, up-to-date news on the coronavirus, we recommend that you watch the daily press briefing with President Trump and members of the White House coronavirus task force.  Watch the entire briefing - including the Q&A with reporters.

NOTE: Read the “Background” below the questions before answering.

1. What are N95 masks?

2. a) What is the reason for the current shortage of N95 masks?
b) What did Bloomberg News report about the depletion of the masks following the H1N1 Swine Flu outbreak in 2009?

3. a) How many Americans were hospitalized and how many died from the H1N1 flu outbreak in 2009?
b) What did both a federally backed task force and a safety equipment organization recommend to the Obama administration at that time?
c) What did the president of the International Safety Equipment Association say about the advice?

4. How many N95 masks were in the stockpile (Strategic National Stockpile) last month, according to HHS Secretary Alex Azar?

5. a) What is the Strategic National Stockpile?
b) What do you think of the Obama administration’s failure to replenish the stockpile after the Swine Flu outbreak in 2009?