While two months might have seemed like a long time back in March, as COVID-19 cases increase in certain states and cities, at this point, just two months until we could have a handle on the virus sounds like really good news.

The CDC recommends that everyone wear a face covering in public places, especially when you’re indoors but even when you’re outdoors if social distancing is difficult. The problem is that different states, counties and cities currently have different rules. In some places, masks are required while in others, they are optional.

The different rules can be confusing for Americans to understand. This is one reason you have probably seen at least one video where someone refused to wear a face mask in a public place (like a store), and they ended up having a negative interaction with a store employee.

While some people don’t believe that masks are necessary, Redfield points out a few situations that seem to prove their effectiveness. One example is a hair salon where two employees ended up testing positive for COVID-19. Before they got their test results, they helped multiple clients, 139 to be exact. Nobody else got sick. Of the 139 clients, 104 were interviewed about this situation, and 102 of them said they wore face coverings. Coincidence? Probably not.

In an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Redfield said, “I think if we could get everybody to wear a mask right now, I really do think in four, six, eight weeks we could bring this epidemic under control.”

In the same interview, Redfield said that our biggest weapons against COVID-19 are social distancing, wearing face masks and washing our hands. He stressed, “If we all rigorously did this, we could really bring this outbreak back to where it needs to be and shut down transmission.” 

If you don’t have a face mask, it’s pretty easy to make one, and there are lots of options for fun face masks you can easily order online.

Do you wear a face mask in public places?