States Offer Inconsistent Advice on Masks for Virus Protection

Wrap a scarf around your mouth and nose if you’re shopping in a grocery store with narrow aisles. Cover your face in public but only if you have symptoms. Wear a makeshift mask, if you feel like it.

Governors and state health officials are giving mixed advice on when, and under what circumstances, residents should cover their faces to prevent spreading the new coronavirus.

One thing is clear: The general public shouldn’t use N-95 or surgical masks because health-care employees and other essential workers need them and personal protective equipment is in short supply.

But as the White House prepares to recommend face coverings in the hardest-hit areas of the country, state leaders seem unsure about how vigorously they should advise the wearing of scarves, bandanas, or homemade cloth masks.

Mixed Messages

Officials in New York City, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area have told residents to cover their noses and mouths with cloth when going outside.

The California Department of Public Health issued guidelines Wednesday that stopped short of fully advising members of the public to wear face coverings, deferring that decision to county governments.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Thursday that the masks help in some circumstances but are no substitute for keeping one’s distance from others.

If someone goes to a grocery store with narrow aisles and long queues, for example, “we do believe it would be additive and beneficial to have a face cover,” Newsom said.

‘Limited Protection’

Nathaniel Smith, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health, had a different message. He said during a media briefing Thursday afternoon that a cloth mask “offers pretty limited protection against acquiring infection.”

The masks are effective if someone has symptoms, Smith said. That statement runs counter to California’s guidance that the masks could reduce asymptomatic transmission.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) encouraged all retailers to let their employees wear face coverings, but he said he won’t move to mandate the practice either for workers or residents.

Other officials similarly stopped short of recommending makeshift masks in public.

“If they want to do that they can, they should strongly consider it,” Michigan’s Chief Medical Executive Joneigh Khaldun said. “It certainly won’t cause any harm.”

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) Tweeted, “Wearing a face covering is no guarantee, but it can help and you are encouraged to do so.”

Scientists Differ

The different messages from policymakers may stem from a lack of agreement in the scientific community. The World Health Organization has said there’s no need for masks, but some in the U.S., including former Food and Drug Administrator Scott Gottlieb, have said covering one’s mouth with a non-medical-grade mask will help stem the rise of Covid-19 cases.

“It is indeed confusing when we receive mixed guidance or silence on a topic from one group compared to another,” Brandon Brown, an epidemiologist at the University of California Riverside School of Medicine, said in an email.

Some of that variation could be political or economic, or a way of exercising caution when there isn’t enough scientific evidence to make a recommendation, Brown said. Out of an abundance of caution, people should defer to the safest option.

If Los Angeles County “tells us to wear masks, I will wear them,” Brown said.