• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Lifestyle
The Limits of Mask Ordinances thumbnail

The Limits of Mask Ordinances

July 26, 2020
Democrats wrestle with how aggressively to respond to the end of Roe v. Wade thumbnail

Democrats wrestle with how aggressively to respond to the end of Roe v. Wade

June 29, 2022
3 dead, dozens injured in Amtrak train derailment in Missouri thumbnail

3 dead, dozens injured in Amtrak train derailment in Missouri

June 28, 2022
FBI seizes disputed Basquiat artwork from Florida museum thumbnail

FBI seizes disputed Basquiat artwork from Florida museum

June 28, 2022
‘They set a torch to it’: Warren says court lost legitimacy with Roe reversal thumbnail

‘They set a torch to it’: Warren says court lost legitimacy with Roe reversal

June 27, 2022
Curiosity has discovered ancient rocks formed by water on Mars thumbnail

Curiosity has discovered ancient rocks formed by water on Mars

June 27, 2022
Republicans Fear Abortion Ruling Will 'Bail the Dems Out' in 2024, Midterms thumbnail

Republicans Fear Abortion Ruling Will ‘Bail the Dems Out’ in 2024, Midterms

June 26, 2022
Google memo on end of Roe v. Wade says employees may apply to relocate 'without justification' thumbnail

Google memo on end of Roe v. Wade says employees may apply to relocate ‘without justification’

June 26, 2022
Report: Stashed 2020 Boston Celtics draft prospect Yam Madar to skip Las Vegas Summer League thumbnail

Report: Stashed 2020 Boston Celtics draft prospect Yam Madar to skip Las Vegas Summer League

June 25, 2022
Why the US Army wants an ‘aerial tier network’ for better communications thumbnail

Why the US Army wants an ‘aerial tier network’ for better communications

June 25, 2022
Early Liver Disease Detection Linked to Subsequent Lifestyle Improvements thumbnail

Early Liver Disease Detection Linked to Subsequent Lifestyle Improvements

June 25, 2022
Jupiter scientists need your help hunting for storms in stunning photos thumbnail

Jupiter scientists need your help hunting for storms in stunning photos

June 25, 2022
Ex-Trump aides say six House Republicans sought pardons after Jan. 6 thumbnail

Ex-Trump aides say six House Republicans sought pardons after Jan. 6

June 24, 2022
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
  • Donate
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
66 °f
Wellfleet
58 ° Tue
63 ° Wed
68 ° Thu
61 ° Fri
  • Login
  • Register
FREE Cape Cod News
DONATE
  • FREE Cape Cod News
  • News
    • News
    • Cape Cod News
    • Massachusetts
    • Breaking News
    • Cape Cod Weather
    • Storm Watch
    • Environment
  • Politics
    • democrats
    • republicans
  • Business
    • business
    • cryptocurrency
    • economy
    • money
    • Real Estate
    • Tech
  • World
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Photos
    • Orleans
    • Eastham
    • Wellfleet
    • Truro
    • Provincetown
    • Brewster
    • Chatham
  • Videos
No Result
View All Result
Free Cape Cod News
No Result
View All Result
  • FREE Cape Cod News
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • World
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Photos
  • Videos
Home News Environment

The Limits of Mask Ordinances

FREE Cape Cod News by FREE Cape Cod News
July 26, 2020
in Environment
Reading Time: 6 mins read
Donate
0
The Limits of Mask Ordinances thumbnail
632
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on TwitterShare on Facebook

Washington, D.C., has become the latest major city to require masks outside the home. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the executive order on Wednesday; it will last for at least the next two and a half months, and those who violate the rule could face a fine as high as $1,000. “Basically, what it says is if you leave home, you should wear a mask,” Bowser said at a press conference. Walking your dog, waiting for the bus, riding on public transportation, and in taxis and ridesharing arrangements—any time you’re likely to come in contact with a person, which includes being within six feet of them “for more than a fleeting time,” a mask is required.

The mask mandate drops into a complicated environment. Masks clearly help prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19—with cloth masks mostly serving as what the experts call “source control,” blocking what comes out of a person’s mouth. Anti-maskers, complaining that masks infringe upon their freedom, have become a serious problem for many business owners as well as policymakers trying to bring the pandemic under control. Bowser’s order was announced as D.C. cases rise once more, after finally slowing in June.

At the same time, masks have their limits in controlling the pandemic—and while normalizing their use is important, it’s not the only measure needed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Although Bowser’s mandate requires masks while ordering food at restaurants, diners may take off their masks to eat. There are also exceptions for people who are drinking or smoking, engaged in “vigorous outdoor exercise,” under the age of 2, working alone in enclosed offices, interacting with someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, or medically unable to wear masks. Masks are also not required at home. While all of those exceptions make sense, they also highlight major flaws in making public mask-wearing the primary way of fighting Covid-19.

“Time spent indoors is one of the biggest risk factors for transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19,” Joseph Allen, an assistant professor of exposure assessment science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told me. Staying outside, masked but also at a distance, helps lower the odds of getting sick, and improving ventilation indoors also helps immensely. Researchers have started suggesting all of these measures in the past few months, as evidence accumulated that the virus can be transmitted via airborne particles if there’s insufficient air circulation, something that’s far more likely indoors than outdoors.

Yet mask requirements don’t do much to address indoor transmission. In D.C., as in many areas where mask requirements have been imposed, restaurants and bars remain open. Despite distance put between diners, a recent study from JPMorgan found that card expenses toward restaurant dining were “particularly predictive” of later virus spread. While removing masks to eat, as the current D.C. order allows, makes logistical sense—science has come a long way, but we still haven’t figured out how to eat while keeping a mask on—it also highlights how hard it actually is to make indoor dining safe.

“Six feet is good, obviously 10 feet is better, but if you’re around a lot of people, even if you’re within six feet, you should still be wearing a mask,” Saskia Popescu, a hospital epidemiologist and infection preventionist, told me. When it comes to managing risks, she also recommends making decisions based on the environment you’re in. “Do you have airflow, do you have natural ventilation, how small is the space? And then, is it an enclosed space with a lot of people—you look at how many people are in that environment with you and for how long.”

Airflow is a particularly complicated factor. Many restaurants, offices, homes, schools, churches, and other indoor spaces involve ventilation systems that recirculate at least part of the air. In one case study of a restaurant in Guangzhou, China, a diner with no symptoms sat in front of an air-conditioning vent, which pushed viral particles through the air—more than six feet—and sickened diners downwind. Those outside of the vent’s path were fine.

“If you can’t bring in higher rates of outdoor air, you want to increase the filtration of the air that is recirculated,” Allen told me. That can be done by installing high-quality filters in the existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems or by using portable HEPA filters in the rooms themselves. But as of right now, local ordinances focused on mask-wearing don’t require that. People who live, work, or eat in buildings where the air is recirculated but not well filtered may never even know that they’re at higher risk. “Look, we know how this is spread,” Popescu said. “People in close contact for prolonged periods of time, like household contacts—that’s the high-risk interaction that’s going to get people sick.”

While wearing a mask is important, the broader policy solutions that could help contain Covid-19, though expensive, are well known by now. Investing in widely available and quick-turnaround tests and contact tracing is perhaps most important. Upgrading building ventilation is another. So is strengthening the social safety net with sick leave, safe housing, universal health care, unemployment, and other policies—all of which will help halt workplace transmission for people with Covid-19.

Relying solely on masks to control the pandemic is more difficult for those who face discrimination because of their mask-wearing. There have been accounts of racism against masked people of color, including a case in May where two Black men were escorted out of a Walmart by an armed guard because they were wearing masks. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, called it “the masking-while-Black phenomenon.”

“We tell everybody: wear a mask,” Benjamin told me. “Of course, many African American men don’t want to wear a mask because they’re afraid of being profiled.” Wearing a mask in a bank, for instance, seems particularly risky for many people—but especially people of color, Benjamin said. There may also be racial disparities in how mask mandates are enforced, with people of color more likely to be stopped and fined.

Joshua Santarpia, an associate professor of pathology and microbiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, told me that he wishes people had more guidance from health officials on which materials are best for masks and how to wear them properly—including putting them on and taking them off without becoming infected in the process. “I really need, want, someone to come in and say, please, make your mask like this, do it like this,” he said. He recommended making different standard sizes and widths, like shoe sizes. “We need better masks for people—better fitting, better quality,” he said.

Santarpia also cautioned against relying too much on a mask to protect yourself without taking any of the other necessary precautions. “If you’re going to go to the store, going to do whatever, right, wear a mask. But don’t think that your mask gives you an excuse to do things exactly the way you’ve always done them,” he said. “Just because I’m wearing a piece of fabric over my face doesn’t mean I can go in a crowded bar and expect that that guy, you know, five [feet] away from me who’s got coronavirus isn’t giving it to me, because he probably is.”

Normalizing mask use is an important part of addressing the coronavirus pandemic. But it’s not the only answer. Making indoor environments safer while continuing to expand quick, free, easily available testing, contact tracing, and treatment will be decisive in getting the current pandemic under control—and preventing pandemics in the future. Donning masks is vital. It’s not magical.

Tags: environment

FREE Digital Newspaper Subscription!
Sign up for your free digital subscription. The FREE Cape Cod News

Unsubscribe
FREE Cape Cod News

FREE Cape Cod News

Free Cape Cod News is what's happening in the Cape Cod, U.S and World & what people are talking about right now. Local newspaper. Stay in the know. Subscribe to get notified about our latest news.

Related Posts

Thousands of previously undescribed viruses found by huge ocean survey thumbnail
Environment

Thousands of previously undescribed viruses found by huge ocean survey

by FREE Cape Cod News
June 10, 2022
Chatham MA. FREE Cape Cod News.
Cape Cod News

Massachusetts sues companies over use of ‘forever chemicals’

by FREE Cape Cod News
May 26, 2022
U.S. Plastic Recycling Rates Are Even Worse Than We Thought thumbnail
Environment

U.S. Plastic Recycling Rates Are Even Worse Than We Thought

by FREE Cape Cod News
May 20, 2022
‘Will there still be dairy cows by 2050? We don’t think so’: Real Deal Milk taps microbes to make vegan cheese in Barcelona thumbnail
Environment

‘Will there still be dairy cows by 2050? We don’t think so’: Real Deal Milk taps microbes to make vegan cheese in Barcelona

by FREE Cape Cod News
May 8, 2022
Load More
Please login to join discussion

Follow Us on Twitter

FREE Cape Cod News - Your source for local Cape Cod news, latest breaking U.S. and World news. Every day, all day. Subscribe for your favorite categories.

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Democrats wrestle with how aggressively to respond to the end of Roe v. Wade thumbnail

Democrats wrestle with how aggressively to respond to the end of Roe v. Wade

June 29, 2022
Google memo on end of Roe v. Wade says employees may apply to relocate 'without justification' thumbnail

Google memo on end of Roe v. Wade says employees may apply to relocate ‘without justification’

June 26, 2022
‘They set a torch to it’: Warren says court lost legitimacy with Roe reversal thumbnail

‘They set a torch to it’: Warren says court lost legitimacy with Roe reversal

June 27, 2022
Democrats wrestle with how aggressively to respond to the end of Roe v. Wade thumbnail

Democrats wrestle with how aggressively to respond to the end of Roe v. Wade

June 29, 2022
3 dead, dozens injured in Amtrak train derailment in Missouri thumbnail

3 dead, dozens injured in Amtrak train derailment in Missouri

June 28, 2022
FBI seizes disputed Basquiat artwork from Florida museum thumbnail

FBI seizes disputed Basquiat artwork from Florida museum

June 28, 2022
Support Local News, Make a Donation Support Local News, Make a Donation Support Local News, Make a Donation

FREE Cape Cod News On Twitter

Today’s News

  • Democrats wrestle with how aggressively to respond to the end of Roe v. Wade June 29, 2022
  • 3 dead, dozens injured in Amtrak train derailment in Missouri June 28, 2022
  • FBI seizes disputed Basquiat artwork from Florida museum June 28, 2022
  • ‘They set a torch to it’: Warren says court lost legitimacy with Roe reversal June 27, 2022
  • Curiosity has discovered ancient rocks formed by water on Mars June 26, 2022
FREE Cape Cod News

Copyright © 2022 Free Cape Cod News

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
  • Donate

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • FREE Cape Cod News
  • News
    • News
    • Cape Cod News
    • Massachusetts
    • Breaking News
    • Cape Cod Weather
    • Storm Watch
    • Environment
  • Politics
    • democrats
    • republicans
  • Business
    • business
    • cryptocurrency
    • economy
    • money
    • Real Estate
    • Tech
  • World
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Photos
    • Orleans
    • Eastham
    • Wellfleet
    • Truro
    • Provincetown
    • Brewster
    • Chatham
  • Videos
  • Login
  • Sign Up

Copyright © 2022 Free Cape Cod News

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist