DENVER — The cost of staying healthy isn’t always affordable to everyone.
Thursday, the rush to get high-quality KN95 masks left the libraries distributing them asking for more less than an hour after they started giving them out. As the government rolls out programs to give free masks and at-home tests, there’s hope they’ll also help break down the barriers preventing people from doing everything they can to avoid getting sick.
COVID is expensive. $24.95 for a pack of KN95 masks to try to stay safe. $23.99 for an at-home test to see if you have the virus. $11.99 for cough medicine when you get sick. The costs add up before you even talk about missing work.
"We’re all trying to do our best, trying to be resilient. But the bills are accumulating," Maria Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez is the executive director of Adelante Community Development, an organization fighting to make sure Latino communities have equal access to resources and care. As the government begins giving out free KN95 masks and prepares to distribute at-home tests, she hopes the barriers stopping people from keeping themselves healthy will come down.
The experts say wearing high-quality masks and testing often at home are some of the best ways to stay safe. Now the government is finally making those tools accessible to everyone.
"I think these new programs are absolutely necessary. I think we could’ve used these a while back," Gonzalez said. "We're hearing from people that they’re not able to afford the test, and in reality, if they already have the symptoms, they’d just rather spend the time to take care of themselves and the $25 on medicine that could potentially make them feel better."
The demand is clearly there. An hour after they opened, 1,000 free masks at Aurora Central Library were gone. In Fort Collins, the free KN95 masks went even quicker, gone by 10:30 a.m.
"I came down today to get the free masks," said Babette Leko, who came to pick up masks in Aurora. "They said they had around 1,000 and a line around the building. They don’t have any more to give."
The state’s rollout of the free mask program has been confusing. They announced they’d be available at fire stations and libraries. Fire departments didn’t have any masks and weren’t ready to give them out. Neither were Denver public libraries.
The free at-home tests being shipped by the federal government are expected to arrive in the coming weeks. Each household can order four tests.
A problem Adelante is seeing is that the pandemic has brought a lot of multi-generational families living together under one roof. They can only order four tests with that one address, even if there are more than four people living in that home.
"What else can we do for our community to make them feel safe, to be part of this solution, and so that we can together move forward," Gonzalez said. "How do we move the needle forward, how do we bring equity into our communities, and how do we work with government officials to make sure communities that are impacted have the ability to have the resources that are needed."
Ozzie Grenardo is the Chief Diversity Officer at Centura Health and sits on the Colorado Vaccine Equity Task Force.
"By providing tests and masks, that can hopefully level the playing field so that they can hopefully get the care that they need," Grenardo said. "When you have programs that allow you to get the care that you need that is equal to everyone else, then hopefully your health outcomes will be as good or better than others."
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