Last week, Governor DeWine extended the mandatory public mask order to the entire state of Ohio. With the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, this seems like a reasonable expectation.
As of 6 PM on Thursday, July 23 all Ohioans will be required to wear a face covering. This excludes children under 10 years of age as well as people who are actively exercising, eating or drinking.
The simple fact is that facemasks can help slow the spread of COVID-19. Combined with other common sense measures such as frequent hand washing, sanitizing, and social distancing can have an enormous impact.
Surgical or cloth masks, although relatively loose fitting, can filter out large particles in the air and reduce contact and exposure to saliva and respiratory secretions of other individuals. Although estimated to only be about 30% effective, combined with other precautions it can add up to a significant decrease in infection risk.
My hope is that people will take these reasonable precautions seriously. If we do, maybe we can stop canceling our high-value activities such as church, school, family, and athletic activities. We should be able to perform all these activities if reasonable and consistent precautions are in place. These include wearing our masks, good sanitation and reasonable social distancing.
Stay well!
Ask Dr S. 