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Business

Home Depot stops selling N95 masks, gives supplies to hospitals

By
Noah Manskar
Published April 1, 2020, 8:14 a.m. ET

Home Depot has stopped selling respirator masks to the general public, donating them instead to hospitals amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company announced Wednesday.

The hardware giant on Wednesday said it placed a “stop-sale” order on N95 masks and has been giving them instead to hospitals, health care providers and first responders for the last several weeks.

The sale halt applies in Home Depot’s nearly 2,300 stores and on its website. The company also directed stores to donate any N95 masks they already had, a Home Depot spokeswoman said.

The Atlanta-based retailer said it has also donated millions of dollars worth of personal protective equipment as hospitals battling the coronavirus run low on masks and other supplies.

“As our communities battle COVID-19, The Home Depot is committed to providing the essential needs required to maintain homes and businesses while doing our best to protect our valued customers and associates,” Craig Menear, the company’s chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement.

US health care workers have reported shortages of N95 masks, which filter out airborne particles and form a seal around the nose and mouth. Home Depot joined other big companies such as Goldman Sachs and Japanese investment giant SoftBank in donating masks to the coronavirus response effort.

The pandemic has also led to several changes at Home Depot stores, which will now close at 6 p.m., so there’s enough time to sanitize and restock them, the company said.

Various N95 respiration masks.
N95 respiration masksNicholas Pfosi/Reuters

The chain has limited the number of shoppers allowed in the stores at one time, marked floors and added signage to encourage social distancing, and killed spring promotions so customers don’t flock to the stores.

Home Depot said it’s distributing thermometers to store and distribution center employees so they can perform “health checks” before reporting to work.

The company is also increasing paid time off for hourly staffers and providing up to 14 paid days off for those who have to be quarantined, according to a news release.