BILLINGS – Hospitals and other medical facilities around the country have been facing a shortage of masks in recent weeks, as the threat of COVID-19 has spread.
In Billings, surgeons who typically would use a new mask for every procedure have been asked to use just one mask a day so that they don’t eventually run out completely.
“We commonly change those masks out between every case for sanitary reasons,” said Dr. Dusty Richardson, a neurosurgeon at Billings Clinic. “Starting about two weeks ago, the supply became limited enough that we have now been only able to use one mask per day.”