In an effort to mitigate the further spread of COVID-19 in Camden County, Cooper University Health Care has graciously donated 200,000 KN95 face masks that will be distributed by the Camden County Metro Police and the Sheriff’s Department.
The masks will be given to a variety of community organizations, schools, senior centers and other locations throughout the county.
“First and foremost, we want to thank Cooper University Health Care for their continued support for us as an agency and for their backing to our overall community,” said Camden County Metro Police Chief Gabe Rodriguez. “It’s no secret that higher quality masks will go a long way to stop the transmission of this virus and this donation will be a tremendous vehicle for us to get these tools into our neighborhoods and into the hands of our residents.”
Under the leadership of Mayor Vic Carstarphen, Camden City has been working hard to fight COVID-19. This includes working with healthcare providers and public health officials to get more than 80 percent of the population at least one dose of the vaccine, setting up testing sites and ensuring that access and opportunity to quality medical care and medication is available citywide.
“Getting these masks into my city is imperative, we need to make sure that our residents have the ability to wear high quality masks that will make them stronger against this virus,” Carstarphen said. “The person-to-person transmission of COVID has been off the charts over the last two months and these masks will provide another barrier to this insidious virus, so I want to take this opportunity to thank our partners at Cooper University Health Care with this assist in the continued fight against this disease.”
Camden County Sheriff Gilbert “Whip” Wilson expressed his gratitude to Cooper for the donation.
“This donation is important to us as an organization and a real asset to my community,” Wilson said. “The more of these masks we can get into the neighborhoods the safer seniors, students and all residents will be during these winter months. I want to personally thank Cooper University Health Care for this vital donation to our agency and the city.”
Anthony Mazzarelli and Kevin O’Dowd, co-CEOs of Cooper, discussed the importance of wearing a mask.
“As the Omicron variant continues to be present throughout the community, we want to provide residents with an additional measure of protection for themselves and others. Masks are a powerful weapon in our fight to slow the spread of this virus,” O’Dowd said.
“The best way to protect yourself against COVID-19 is to get vaccinated and a booster shot. Another way to protect yourself and others is to wear a mask in public settings, and we wanted to put these masks to good use,” Mazzarelli said.
