Protective face masks used to protect against the coronavirus.

Protective face masks used to protect against the coronavirus. Credit: AFP via Getty Images / Mladen Antonov

We should all be wearing masks.

Yes, that includes you, who went out for a walk, bare faced, to enjoy the lovely weather this weekend, or did a quick shopping trip and forgot the cover-up in the car. It’s not easy, and the masks are annoying, but there is some evidence that they can help us through the coronavirus pandemic. Until we get vaccines and other medications to protect us, the masks, hand-washing, and social-distancing are the most we can do. No one wants to see this deadly disease roar back.

An April study of New York data by Arizona State University researchers suggested that widespread adoption of masks could prevent on the order of 17% to 45% of projected deaths over the next two months in New York State. If that’s not enough, masks or face coverings when in public and near others are the law of the land in the state thanks to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s April 15 executive order.

So why isn’t everyone covering up?

Maybe it’s because authorities were lukewarm on masks for weeks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that ordinary, healthy citizens didn’t need to mask up, only reversing course at the beginning of April, faced with new data about widespread incidences of asymptomatic transmission.

Cuomo had called for vulnerable people and those interacting with them to wear masks on March 20. But on April 3, almost two weeks before his mask executive order, his health Commissioner Howard Zucker said there was “no clear evidence” that covering faces for the general public would help. Cuomo clarified that it “couldn’t hurt” but shouldn’t give a false sense of security.

Advice from top experts to local elected officials hasn’t been consistent. The World Health Organization’s guidance is merely that in “the community, we recommend the use of medical masks by people who are sick and those who are caring for a sick person at home.”

Then there is the bad mask example set by Vice President Mike Pence. Pence stupidly skipped the mask during a visit to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota last week, though he put one on for a General Motors visit a few days later. President Donald Trump has downplayed his need for a mask but said he might wear one. The president would set a good example on Tuesday if he dons one while visiting an Arizona mask manufacturer.

There were legitimate concerns about encouraging widespread mask use. An inexplicable national shortage of heavy duty medical masks strained supplies of other masks leading officials to worry about sufficient stock for front-line workers. As we’ve learned more about this disease, it seems more and more likely that masks can help prevent transmission.

Whether they’re off the rack or custom made, a strip of cloth or an old scarf, the devices are often a nuisance — fogging glasses and heating cheeks, making it hard to talk or simply feel at peace outside.

But think of them as a civic step that helps, even a little. It’s a way to do our part, for those we love and everyone else at risk.

— The editorial board

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