National Cathedral Finds 5,000 Masks That Had Been Stashed Away by Its Crypt for Over 10 Years

A pharmacy worker sells N95 face masks in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on Feb. 27, 2020. Carlo Allegri/Reuters

As head stonemason at the National Cathedral in Washington, Joe Alonso knows the ins and outs of the church better than anyone.

So as he read news of the CCP virus pandemic, Alonso remembered that there was something stowed away in the cathedral’s crypt level that could help efforts to combat the virus: 5,000 N95 respirator masks.