Gov. Greg Abbott issued a sweeping order on Thursday requiring residents of counties with at least 20 coronavirus cases to cover their faces.
The mandate applies to people inside companies and outdoors in places where social distancing is not possible. First-time offenders must receive written or spoken warnings, and after that a fine of up to $ 250 is possible. The order specifies that no one should receive jail time.
The announcement came a day after the state reached a grim milestone: more than 8,000 new cases of COVID-19 in one day, a state record. (For context, New York reported 11,571 cases on its worst day of the outbreak, April 15.) Texas also recorded 57 new deaths, its second-highest number of daily deaths, according to ABC13 Houston.
In total, the state has confirmed more than 178,000 cases and 2,500 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Last week, Abbott halted the state’s reopening plan and called the new increase in cases a “massive outbreak.”
In addition to Texas, cases are increasing in at least 37 other states. On Wednesday, the US topped 50,000 new daily coronavirus cases for the first time.
A growing body of research suggests that face masks can effectively prevent coronavirus transmission. A model from the University of Washington projects that if everyone in the United States wears a mask in public, around 24,000 lives could be saved in the next three months.
Anita Pedy, right, the COVID-19 Unit Chief of Nursing at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, transporting a patient from the ER to Unit COVID-19 on May 6.
Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
More than 20 states require facial coatings in public
Texas has joined a growing list of states, along with Washington, DC, that require facial covers in public: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington.
Some cities and counties in states without state orders also have local requirements for wearing masks, such as Anchorage, Alaska; and Jacksonville, Florida.
Still, many local public health officials have struggled to enforce the mask requirements, as the policy has become politically charged.
In Texas, the new mask mandate is an investment: Abbott previously banned local governments from punishing people who do not wear masks when the state order to stay home was lifted.
But Abbott said in a video released Thursday that the latest coronavirus numbers “reveal a stark reality.”
“COVID-19 is not going to go away,” he said. “In fact, it’s getting worse.”
Masks can help prevent coronavirus infections
Both the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization now recommend that people wear face cloths in public places, especially in areas with widespread community outreach. . The CDC recommends that surgical masks or N95 respirators be reserved for healthcare workers.
Facial coatings make a difference because coronavirus particles pass between people in tiny droplets of saliva and mucus. If a sick person sneezes, coughs, talks, or eats near another person, the particles may fall on that person and enter the eyes, nose, or mouth. Covering our noses and mouths helps block those particles.
Pvt. Armon Ramírez, 1st Class, from the Texas National Guard, received hand sanitizer after testing people for COVID-19 in the Memorial Swimming Pool parking lot on May 18 in El Paso, Texas.
Paul Ratje / AFP via Getty Images
Studies and models have attempted to quantify the benefits of wearing masks. Recent research by UK scientists concluded that the more people wear masks in a community, even if the masks are only 50% effective in blocking the virus, the closer you can be to containing an outbreak, even without a block.
“These results are surprising because the benefits accrue to the mask wearer and to the general population,” the researchers wrote. “Therefore, there is a clear incentive for people to adopt the use of masks.”
According to an analysis by The Philadelphia Inquirer last week, coronavirus cases appeared to be on the rise overall in states with relaxed facemask rules. By contrast, The Inquirer found that new cases had dropped by 25% in total over the past two weeks in states that required masks in public.
In May, two stylists in Springfield, Missouri offered a case study on the effectiveness of the mask. They tested positive for COVID-19 after seeing 140 clients. But local public health authorities found that of the 46 people who attended the virus screening test, none were positive.
“Which mask worked, the barber’s or the client’s? I think the answer is yes. They both worked,” Robin Trotman, an infectious disease specialist in Springfield, told The Washington Post. “The system worked. Universal masking worked.”
