White House Reportedly Killed U.S. Postal Service Plan to Send Masks to Every Household

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The Trump White House reportedly pulled the plug on a ready-t0-execute plan from the United States Postal Service to flood the nation’s household with masks during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Washington Post, the nation’s mail service developed a comprehensive strategy to push hundreds of millions of face masks. The revelation came after the Post reviewed a mass tranche of documents about the federal government’s early days in the pandemic.

“At one point in April, USPS leaders drafted a news release announcing plans to distribute 650 million masks nationwide, enough to offer five face coverings to every American household,” the Post reports. “The document, which includes quotations from top USPS officials and other specifics, was never sent. But it suggests that the government’s initial interest in tapping the Postal Service as part of its campaign to combat the coronavirus may have been far more advanced than initially reported this spring.”

The country’s mail service began finalizing a strategic effort to push out hundreds of millions of masks directly to Americans, and even prepped a press release to alert the public of its mission.

Before the news release was sent, however, the White House nixed the plan, according to senior administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal deliberations. Instead, HHS created Project America Strong, a $675 million effort to distribute “reusable cotton face masks to critical infrastructure sectors, companies, healthcare facilities, and faith-based and community organizations across the country. About 600 million of the 650 million masks ordered have been distributed, according to an HHS spokesperson, including 125 million set aside for schools.

An administration official said scrapping the plan was based on a concern not to stoke fear or panic about the threat of the coronavirus outbreak.