New York – A debate is raging in New York, where COVID-19 has claimed more than 20,000 lives: exactly where and when the brace should be used.
Since April 17, New York State requires everyone to cover their faces anywhere they can’t keep a distance of at least two meters (six feet) from people who don’t live with them. Only minors under two years old or people who can prove a medical reason are excepted.
In New Jersey and Connecticut, and more recently in Massachusetts, a similar rule applies. The British government told people to cover their noses and mouths in shops, buses and the tube.
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But while the rule is clear, every New Yorker interprets it in their own way.
It is not uncommon to see groups of walkers in the parks and essential workers, even police officers, who hang their masks even when they walk on sidewalks in the middle of other people or talk to each other. Those who use them the least are those who exercise outdoors.
As warm weather invites you out of the house, the odds of confrontations between face-mask believers and skeptics grow.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that there is no problem removing your mask while you are walking alone, but you should put it on if someone approaches. He said Tuesday he faced a man without a face mask walking his dog.
“We disagreed and the situation, the conversation, became a little tense. So I ended the conversation, “said Cuomo.
Elissa Stein, a 55-year-old graphic designer and activist who lives in Manhattan, made T-shirts printed with a somewhat rude version of the legend “wear your mask.” She said that many look at her when she wears the shirt, but that it’s worth it, given the stakes.
“It shouldn’t be something taken lightly,” he said. “This is not a joke.”
The state standard does not impose fines for not wearing the mask. Mayor Bill de Blasio says he prefers education to punishment, and has promised to distribute face masks.
The messages from other politicians are often confusing.
President Donald Trump rules out using it in public, but on Monday the White House ordered everyone in the West Wing, the presidential office sector, to use it since staff members caught the virus.
