Facts, Resources & News About Mask Usage

Polling Data

Washington Post / Ipsos: 76% of Americans want masks to be required in businesses for all customers and employees (5/15/20)

USF / Nielsen: 79.3% of Floridians support requiring masks in public places statewide

Keating Research, OnSight Public Affairs and Melanson: 79% of Coloradans support requiring masks in businesses

CBS: 92% of people believe they have a personal responsibility not to spread the virus

Wash Post: Majority of Republicans and Democrats are wearing masks

Quick Facts:

75%+ of the world’s population lives in countries that have a nationwide requirement of masks in some public places or that have universal mask usage

95%+ of the world lives in countries where their government requires and/or recommends mask usage

100+ countries and 15 U.S. States require masks in some public places

Scientific Research:

100+ Health and scientific leaders (including two Nobel prize winners) have signed a letter calling for masks to be required in public to slow COVID-19.

Face Masks Against COVID-19: An Evidence Review + a list of 96 scientific papers about masks by 19 Experts from Stanford, MIT, Oxford, UPenn, Brown, UNC, UCLA, and USF (4/12/20)

1. - Near-universal adoption of non-medical masks in public (in conjunction with other measures like testing & tracing) can reduce effective-R below 1.0 and stop the community spread of the virus.
  - Laws appear to be highly effective at increasing compliance and slowing or stopping the spread of COVID-19.

35+ Scientific Papers About Mask Usage (featured in the Washington Post) – 4/1/20

Widespread mask-wearing could prevent COVID-19 second waves: study (Reuters) – 6/9/20

Yale Researchers & Scientists found that “the benefits of each additional cloth mask worn by the public are conservatively in the $3,000-$6,000 range due to their impact in slowing the spread of the virus.”

Universal Masking to Restart Society and Save Lives: COVID-19 Data, Simulations, Policy Recommendations by De Kai, UC Berkeley (4/24/20)

CNBC: Wearing a mask can significantly reduce coronavirus transmission, study on hamsters claims (5/17/20)

CDC: Use of Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19

Press/Articles:

The Conversation: Masks help stop the spread of coronavirus – the science is simple and I’m one of 100 experts urging governors to require public mask-wearing (5/14/20)

USA Today: Over 100 health leaders to governors: Require masks to help contain the coronavirus (5/14/20)

Vanity Fair: If 80% of Americans Wore Masks, COVID-19 Infections Would Plummet, New Study Says (5/8/20)

Fox News: Coronavirus infections would plunge if 80 percent of people wore masks, study says (5/15/20)

Washington Post: We could stop the pandemic by July 4 if the government took these steps (5/15/20)

The New Yorker: Amid the Coronavirus Crisis, a Regimen for Reëntry (5/13/20)

BBC News: White House staff ordered to wear masks (5/11/20)

The Atlantic: The Real Reason To Wear A Mask (4/22/20)